lower

Formslowers, lowering, lowered

Plurallowers

1. 1
   adjective

   Comparative of low.

   The water sat noticeably lower in the reservoir after the dry spell.

   She chose the lower of the two apartments because the rent was cheaper.

   Note

   An -er comparative that grew into a whole word family: low plus the suffix gave lower, and that comparative now takes verb endings of its own, as in lowers, lowering, lowered. As a plain comparative it follows every sense of low, including rank and quality. So a lower rank or a lower grade of work is as natural as a lower shelf.

2. 2
   adjective

   Situated toward the bottom of an object, nearer its base than its middle.

   Pain in the lower back is common among people who sit all day.

   The lower deck of the ferry was reserved for vehicles.

   Similarbottom, under, nether

   Oppositeupper, top

   Note

   Here the comparative has stopped comparing. The lower back is not lower than some other back; it is simply the bottom part of the back, and the lower deck is the bottom deck. This fixed, positional use sits before its noun and does not call for a than-phrase. That is the quickest way to tell it from the plain comparative.

3. 3
   verbtransitive

   To reduce the height of something.

   The crew had to lower the mast before passing under the bridge.

   Renovators lowered the ceiling to improve the room's acoustics.

   Similardrop, shorten, reduce

   Oppositeraise, heighten, elevate

4. 4
   verbtransitive

   To let something suspended descend, easing it downward by its own weight.

   Sailors lower the lifeboat carefully along the side of the ship.

   The climbers lowered their packs down the cliff on a long line.

   Similardrop, ease, sink

   Oppositeraise, hoist, lift

   Note

   The literal sense, and the one with ropes in it: a bucket into a well, a sail, a coffin "lower'd softly with a threefold cord of love" in Tennyson's A Dream of Fair Women (1833). Machinery can do the lowering with no object named. Trains Illustrated in 1960 has level-crossing barriers "timed to lower fully," a use that slides toward the intransitive "sink" meaning.

5. 5
   verbtransitive

   To reduce the degree, intensity, or strength of something.

   Dimming the lamps will lower the glare on the screen.

   The new policy lowered tensions between the two departments.

   Similarreduce, lessen, diminish, decrease, ease

   Oppositeincrease, raise, heighten, intensify

   Note

   A sense that works on dials of every kind: temperature, vitality, the volume of voices in a library. One older use is easy to miss. To lower distilled liquors is to dilute them, reducing their strength rather than their quantity. When the object is a voice, lower means quieter, not deeper, and the setting usually makes that plain.

6. 6
   verbtransitive

   To reduce something in value, amount, or quantity.

   The central bank voted to lower interest rates this quarter.

   The airline lowered its fares to compete on the busy route.

   Similarreduce, cut, decrease, slash, drop

   Oppositeraise, increase, hike

7. 7
   adverb

   Comparative of low.

   The drone hovered lower as the operator searched the rubble.

   Sing the next line a little lower so it matches the melody.

   Note

   The adverb follows its verb and inherits the full range of low as an adverb. You can hang a picture lower, sing lower in pitch, speak lower in volume, or buy lower in price. Context does the sorting, and with singing it usually means pitch. When you mean quieter, speak more softly avoids the ambiguity.

8. 8
   verbtransitive

   To make something less elevated, bringing it down in position.

   The crane will lower the steel beam onto the foundation.

   Staff lowered the stage so the dancers could step off easily.

   Similardrop, set

   Oppositeraise, lift, elevate

   Note

   Most often figurative in practice: what gets made less elevated is ambition, aspirations or hopes. To lower your hopes concedes that the target was set too high, but it does not give the target up. It is gentler than abandoning them. The phrase usually takes a possessive, so the ambitions being lowered are one's own.

   It is wiser to lower your hopes than to abandon them.

   Years of rejection had taught him to lower his ambitions.

9. 9
   verbintransitive

   To decrease in value, amount, or quantity.

   Fuel prices usually lower once demand drops in the fall.

   Enrollment numbers lowered for the third year in a row.

   Similardecrease, fall, drop, decline, dip

   Oppositerise, increase, climb

10. 10
    verbintransitive

    To fall, sink, or grow smaller over time.

    As the gates opened, the river began to lower toward its banks.

    The lake lowered through the long, dry summer.

    Similarfall, sink, drop, subside, recede

    Oppositerise, swell

    Note

    Without an object, the verb describes things sinking of their own accord, especially water: "The river lowered as rapidly as it rose." Pairing it with rise is the natural frame, and it makes the meaning unmistakable. For prices and amounts, the same objectless use belongs to its counterpart for value.

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