# decrease

Pronunciation: say "di-KREES" US /dɪˈkɹis/, UK /dɪˈkɹiːs/

## Verb

1. Of a quantity, to grow smaller in size, number, or degree.
   - Simple: To become smaller in number or amount.
   - _Temperatures decrease steadily as you climb higher up the mountain._
   - _Sales decreased sharply after the holiday season ended._
2. To make a quantity smaller in size, number, or degree.
   - Simple: To make something smaller in number or amount.
   - _Engineers redesigned the engine to decrease fuel consumption._
   - _The company decreased its workforce by ten percent last year._

## Noun

Pronunciation: say "DEE-krees" US /ˈdiˌkɹis/, UK /ˈdiːkɹiːs/

3. The amount by which a quantity grows smaller, or the act of its growing smaller.
   - Simple: A drop in the size, number, or amount of something.
   - _The report showed a sharp decrease in regional rainfall over the decade._
   - _A decrease in interest rates often encourages people to borrow money._
4. A reduction in the number of stitches in knitting, made by suspending one stitch from another or by knitting two stitches together.
   - Simple: A way of making fewer stitches in knitting, often by joining two stitches into one.
   - _She worked a decrease at the start of each round to narrow the hat's crown._
   - _The instructions place a decrease on either side of the central panel._

## Origin

From Middle English decresen, an alteration of discresen, borrowed from Anglo-Norman and Old French descreistre (modern French décroître), which came from Latin decrescere.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/decrease (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).