lessening

Habituation -- adaptation's less-glamorous sibling -- involves the lessening response to a stimulus after repeated exposure.

Fierce Santa Ana winds were expected to ease somewhat Friday, lessening the chance of the fire spreading farther.

C&S, the agency said, will be nothing like “a meaningful competitor that would mitigate a substantial lessening of competition” resulting from the merger.

But the CMA provisionally concluded on Wednesday that such a deal would lead to a "substantial lessening in competition".

Reznik says California now has an opportunity to restore one of its ecological treasures while also lessening L.A.’s dependence on water imported from hundreds of miles away.