abat

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. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

The King of Scots . . . sore abated the walls. Edw. Hall. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

His eye was not dim, nor his natural force abated. Deut. xxxiv. 7. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To deduct; to omit; as, to abate something from a price. [ 1913 Webster ]

Nine thousand parishes, abating the odd hundreds. Fuller. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. To blunt. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

To abate the edge of envy. Bacon. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. To reduce in estimation; to deprive. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

She hath abated me of half my train. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

To abate a tax, to remit it either wholly or in part. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. [ See Abate, v. t. ] 1. To decrease, or become less in strength or violence; as, pain abates, a storm abates. [ 1913 Webster ]

The fury of Glengarry . . . rapidly abated. Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To be defeated, or come to naught; to fall through; to fail; as, a writ abates. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- To subside; decrease; intermit; decline; diminish; lessen. -- 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Abatement. [ Obs. ] Sir T. Browne. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ OF. abatement, F. abattement. ] 1. The act of abating, or the state of being abated; a lessening, diminution, or reduction; removal or putting an end to; as, the abatement of a nuisance is the suppression thereof. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The amount abated; that which is taken away by way of reduction; deduction; decrease; a rebate or discount allowed. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Her.) A mark of dishonor on an escutcheon. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Law) The entry of a stranger, without right, into a freehold after the death of the last possessor, before the heir or devisee. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

Defense in abatement,
Plea in abatement, (Law), plea to the effect that from some formal defect (e.g. misnomer, lack of jurisdiction) the proceedings should be abated. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who, or that which, abates. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Provided with an abatis. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Law) (a) One who abates a nuisance. (b) A person who, without right, enters into a freehold on the death of the last possessor, before the heir or devisee. Blackstone. [ 1913 Webster ]

{ } pos>n. [ F. abatis, abattis, mass of things beaten or cut down, fr. abattre. See Abate. ] (Fort.) A means of defense formed by felled trees, the ends of whose branches are sharpened and directed outwards, or against the enemy. [ 1913 Webster ]