| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | alleviate, help |
| Synonyms: | abate, aid, allay, ameliorate, anesthetize, appease, assist, assuage, attend to, calm, cheer, clear the way, comfort, cure, disburden, disengage, doctor, expedite, facilitate, forward, free, further, improve, lessen, let up on, lift, lighten, make easier, meliorate, mitigate, moderate, mollify, nurse, open the door, pacify, palliate, promote, quiet, relax, release, relent, relieve, run interference for, simplify, slacken, smooth, soften, soothe, speed, speed up, still, tranquilize, untighten |
| Antonyms: | annoy, increase, irritate, perplex, vex, worsen |
| Main Entry: | eradicate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | destroy; remove |
| Synonyms: | abate, abolish, annihilate, blot out, demolish, deracinate, do away with, efface, eliminate, erase, expunge, exterminate, extinguish, extirpate, liquidate, mow down, obliterate, off*, purge, raze, root out, rub out, scratch*, scrub, shoot down, squash, stamp out, take out*, torpedo, total, trash, unroot, uproot, wash out, waste, weed out, wipe out |
| Antonyms: | aid, assist, bear, create, establish, fix, help, institute, plant |
| Main Entry: | extinguish |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | kill; quash |
| Synonyms: | abate, abolish, annihilate, blot out, check, crush, destroy, eliminate, end, eradicate, erase, expunge, exterminate, extirpate, obliterate, obscure, put down, put the lid on, quell, remove, squash, stamp out, suppress, wipe out |
| Antonyms: | bear, create |
| Main Entry: | extirpate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | destroy; uproot |
| Synonyms: | abate, abolish, annihilate, blot out, cut out, demolish, deracinate, efface, eliminate, eradicate, erase, excise, expunge, exsect, exterminate, extinguish, kill, raze, remove, root out, wipe out |
| Antonyms: | help, leave alone |
| Main Entry: | fade |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | dwindle, die out |
| Synonyms: | abate, attenuate, clear, decline, deliquesce, deteriorate, die away, die on vine, dim, diminish, disappear, disperse, dissolve, droop, ebb, etiolate, evanesce, evanish, evaporate, fag out, fail, fall, flag, fold, hush, languish, lessen, melt, melt away, moderate, perish, peter out, poop out, quiet, rarefy, shrivel, sink, slack off, taper, thin, tire, tucker out, vanish, wane, waste away, weaken, wilt, wither |
| Antonyms: | enhance, improve, recover, strengthen |
| Main Entry: | fall |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | descend; become lower |
| Synonyms: | abate, backslide, be precipitated, break down, buckle, cascade, cave in, collapse, crash, decline, decrease, depreciate, diminish, dip, dive, drag, droop, drop down, dwindle, ease, ebb, flag, flop, fold up, go down, gravitate, hit the dirt, keel over, land, lapse, lessen, nose-dive, pitch, plummet, plunge, recede, regress, relapse, settle, sink, slip, slope, slump, spin, stumble, subside, take a header, tip over, topple, totter, trail, trip, tumble, wane |
| Antonyms: | ascend, climb, go up, rise, scale |
| Main Entry: | flag |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | decline, fall off |
| Synonyms: | abate, deteriorate, die, droop, ebb, fade, fail, faint, languish, peter out, pine, sag, sink, slump, succumb, taper off, wane, weaken, weary, wilt |
| Antonyms: | do well, increase, rise, strengthen |
| Main Entry: | invalidate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | render null and void |
| Synonyms: | X-out, abate, abolish, abrogate, annihilate, annul, blow sky-high, cancel, circumduct, counteract, counterbalance, disannul, discredit, disqualify, impair, negate, negative, neutralize, nix, nullify, offset, overrule, overthrow, quash, refute, revoke, shoot full of holes, undermine, undo, unfit, weaken |
| Antonyms: | approve, permit, validate |
| Main Entry: | lessen |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | lower, reduce |
| Synonyms: | abate, abridge, amputate, attenuate, become smaller, clip, close, contract, crop, curtail, cut, cut back, de-escalate, decline, decrease, degrade, die down, dilute, diminish, downsize, drain, dwindle, ease, erode, grow less, impair, lighten, minify, minimize, mitigate, moderate, narrow, roll back, shrink, slack up, slacken, slow down, soft-pedal, take the bite out, take the edge off, take the sting out, taper, taper off, thin, truncate, weaken, wind down |
| Notes: | lessen means to decrease in size, extent, or range, while a lesson is a unit of instruction |
| Antonyms: | enlarge, extend, increase, raise, strengthen |