From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdiminishdi‧min‧ish /dəˈmɪnɪʃ/ ●●○ AWL verb 1 [intransitive, transitive]REDUCE to become or make something become smaller or less SYN reduce The party’s share of the electorate has diminished steadily. These drugs diminish blood flow to the brain.► see thesaurus at decrease2 [transitive]IMPORTANT to deliberately make someone or something appear less important or valuable than they really are Don’t let him diminish your achievements. But that’s not to diminish the importance of his discoveries.3 → diminishing returns→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
diminish• The time Foreman spent with his children gradually diminished.• With time, such resistance will doubtless diminish.• Then business diminished, and the partners persuaded Stratford to live off his Prescott estate in Gloucestershire.• Tate said the fences threaten to diminish property values in the neighborhood.• It will diminish rapidly with the distance in relatedness between individuals.• One was the idea of diminishing returns, applied in this case to income or wealth.• When the food has gone, its appeal diminishes, the dance stops, the crowd disperses and a new hunt begins.• "I'm not going to diminish the fact that I was upset, " McMahon said.• Steady rates would diminish the risk that ever-more homeowners will refinance the mortgages underlying the bonds.Origin diminish (1400-1500) diminue ((14-16 centuries)), from Old French diminuer, from Latin minuere “to make less” 