Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Abate \A*bate"\ ([.a]*b[=a]t"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Abated}, p.
   pr. & vb. n. {Abating}.] [OF. abatre to beat down, F.
   abattre, LL. abatere; ab or ad + batere, battere (popular
   form for L. batuere to beat). Cf. {Bate}, {Batter}.]
   1. To beat down; to overthrow. [Obs.]

            The King of Scots . . . sore abated the walls.
                                                  --Edw. Hall.

   2. To bring down or reduce from a higher to a lower state,
      number, or degree; to lessen; to diminish; to contract; to
      moderate; to cut short; as, to abate a demand; to abate
      pride, zeal, hope.

            His eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated.
                                                  --Deut. xxxiv.
                                                  7.

   3. To deduct; to omit; as, to abate something from a price.

            Nine thousand parishes, abating the odd hundreds.
                                                  --Fuller.

   4. To blunt. [Obs.]

            To abate the edge of envy.            --Bacon.

   5. To reduce in estimation; to deprive. [Obs.]

            She hath abated me of half my train.  --Shak.

   6. (Law)
      (a) To bring entirely down or put an end to; to do away
          with; as, to abate a nuisance, to abate a writ.
      (b) (Eng. Law) To diminish; to reduce. Legacies are liable
          to be abated entirely or in proportion, upon a
          deficiency of assets.

   {To abate a tax}, to remit it either wholly or in part.

Abate \A*bate"\ ([.a]*b[=a]t"), v. i. [See {Abate}, v. t.]
   1. To decrease, or become less in strength or violence; as,
      pain abates, a storm abates.

            The fury of Glengarry . . . rapidly abated.
                                                  --Macaulay.

   2. To be defeated, or come to naught; to fall through; to
      fail; as, a writ abates.

   {To abate into a freehold}, {To abate in lands} (Law), to
      enter into a freehold after the death of the last
      possessor, and before the heir takes possession. See
      {Abatement}, 4.

   Syn: To subside; decrease; intermit; decline; diminish;
        lessen.

   Usage: To {Abate}, {Subside}. These words, as here compared,
          imply a coming down from some previously raised or
          excited state. Abate expresses this in respect to
          degrees, and implies a diminution of force or of
          intensity; as, the storm abates, the cold abates, the
          force of the wind abates; or, the wind abates, a fever
          abates. Subside (to settle down) has reference to a
          previous state of agitation or commotion; as, the
          waves subside after a storm, the wind subsides into a
          calm. When the words are used figuratively, the same
          distinction should be observed. If we conceive of a
          thing as having different degrees of intensity or
          strength, the word to be used is abate. Thus we say, a
          man's anger abates, the ardor of one's love abates,
          ``Winter's rage abates''. But if the image be that of
          a sinking down into quiet from preceding excitement or
          commotion, the word to be used is subside; as, the
          tumult of the people subsides, the public mind
          subsided into a calm. The same is the case with those
          emotions which are tumultuous in their nature; as, his
          passion subsides, his joy quickly subsided, his grief
          subsided into a pleasing melancholy. Yet if, in such
          cases, we were thinking of the degree of violence of
          the emotion, we might use abate; as, his joy will
          abate in the progress of time; and so in other
          instances.

Abate \A*bate\ ([.a]*b[=a]t"), n.
   Abatement. [Obs.] --Sir T. Browne.

Source : WordNet®

abate
     v 1: make less active or intense [syn: {slake}, {slack}]
     2: become less in amount or intensity; "The storm abated"; "The
        rain let up after a few hours" [syn: {let up}, {slack off},
         {slack}, {die away}]