decrease
verb/dɪˈkriːs/
/dɪˈkriːs/
[intransitive, transitive] (rather formal)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they decrease | /dɪˈkriːs/ /dɪˈkriːs/ |
| he / she / it decreases | /dɪˈkriːsɪz/ /dɪˈkriːsɪz/ |
| past simple decreased | /dɪˈkriːst/ /dɪˈkriːst/ |
| past participle decreased | /dɪˈkriːst/ /dɪˈkriːst/ |
| -ing form decreasing | /dɪˈkriːsɪŋ/ /dɪˈkriːsɪŋ/ |
- to become smaller in size, number, etc.; to make something smaller in size, number, etc.
- Donations have decreased significantly over the past few years.
- a decreasing population
- decrease (from something) (to something) The number of new students decreased from 210 to 160 this year.
- decrease by something The price of wheat has decreased by 5 per cent.
- decrease in something This species of bird is decreasing in numbers every year.
- to decrease in size/value
- decrease with something Fertility decreases with age.
- decrease something The drug did not significantly decrease the risk of heart attack.
- People should decrease the amount of fat they eat.
- to decrease the incidence/likelihood/rate of something
Extra ExamplesTopics Change, cause and effectb2, Moneyb2- Average family size has decreased from five to three children.
- Crime has decreased by 20 per cent.
- The heart gradually decreases in size.
- Spending has decreased slightly this year.
- The dose was gradually decreased after eight weeks.
- The number of quarrels among children decreases with age.
- Symptoms include a dry mouth, decreased appetite, headache and tiredness.
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadverb- considerably
- dramatically
- drastically
- …
- by
- from
- to
- …
- decrease in number, size, value, etc.
Word Originlate Middle English: from Old French decreis (noun), decreistre (verb), based on Latin decrescere, from de- ‘down’ + crescere ‘grow’.Want to learn more?
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decrease