recession
Pluralrecessions
- 1A time when business slows down across a country and many people lose their jobs.
Like a car slowing down: the whole economy moves less for a while.
Many families struggled to pay their bills during the recession.
When a recession hits, companies often stop hiring new workers.
Similardownturn, slump, depression
Oppositeboom
Note
- 2The act of moving back or pulling away from something.
Like the sea pulling back from the beach when the tide goes out.
The slow recession of the floodwaters left thick mud on the streets.
He noticed the steady recession of his hairline in the mirror.
Similarwithdrawal
Oppositeadvance
Note
- 3The slow walk of the clergy and choir out of the church at the end of a service.
Like the people in a parade walking out in order when the event is over.
The choir sang a hymn during the recession at the end of Mass.
Everyone stood quietly for the recession after the final blessing.
Note
- 4The act of giving something back to the person or country it came from.
Like returning a borrowed book to the person you first got it from.
The treaty arranged the recession of the captured lands to their former owner.
Negotiators agreed on the recession of fishing rights to the coastal villages.
Similarretrocession, return, restoration
- 5A long, cold time that kills off many kinds of plants and animals, like an ice age.
Like a deep freeze that lasts thousands of years and clears out much of life.
During the recession, falling temperatures drove many species to extinction.
The long, cold recession reduced the forests to scattered patches of tundra.
Similarglaciation
Note
- 6An eye operation that moves one of the muscles that turn the eye farther back to weaken its pull.
Like loosening a rope so it pulls less hard on whatever it is tied to.
The surgeon performed a recession to correct the child's crossed eyes.
After the recession, her eyes lined up much better.
Oppositeresection
Note
Practice
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Origin
From Latin recessio, from recedo meaning "to go back," made of re- ("back") plus cedo ("to go").