|
|
Definition of Attenuate
1. Adjective. Reduced in strength. "The faded tones of an old recording"
2. Verb. Weaken the consistency of (a chemical substance).
Category relationships: Chemical Science, Chemistry
Generic synonyms: Weaken
Derivative terms: Attenuation, Rarefaction
3. Verb. Become weaker, in strength, value, or magnitude.
Definition of Attenuate
1. v. t. To make thin or slender, as by mechanical or chemical action upon inanimate objects, or by the effects of starvation, disease, etc., upon living bodies.
2. v. i. To become thin, slender, or fine; to grow less; to lessen.
3. a. Made thin or slender.
Definition of Attenuate
1. Verb. (transitive) To reduce in size, force, value, amount, or degree ¹
2. Verb. (transitive) To weaken ¹
3. Verb. (transitive) To rarefy ¹
4. Verb. (transitive) To reduce the virulence of a bacteria or virus ¹
5. Verb. (transitive electronics) To reduce the amplitude of an electrical signal ¹
6. Adjective. (botany of leaves) Gradually tapering into a petiole-like extension toward the base. ¹
¹ Source: wiktionary.com
Definition of Attenuate
1. [v -ATED, -ATING, -ATES]
Medical Definition of Attenuate
1. Tapering gradually. (09 Oct 1997)
Lexicographical Neighbors of Attenuate
Literary usage of Attenuate
Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:
1. Synoptical Flora of North America: The Gamopetalae, Being a Second Edition by Asa Gray (1888)
"Style-branches terminated by a rather long attenuate subulate hispid appendage.
... Akènes from linear and downwardly attenuate to ..."
2. Gray's New Manual of Botany: A Handbook of the Flowering Plants and Ferns of by Asa ( Gray, Merritt Lyndon Fernald, Benjamin Lincoln Robinson (1908)
"... 1—1.3 cm. broad; bracts linear-attenuate, the r,\t>rr rather rigid, hardly
spreading ; flowers purple or white ; corollas aboul 14 mm. long. ..."
3. Manual of the Botany (Phænogamia and Pteridophyta) of the Rocky Mountain by John Merle Coulter (1885)
"N. attenuate, Torr. ... from oblong-lanceolate and attenuate-acuminate to linear-
lanceolate or linear : corolla dull white or greenish, ..."
4. A Manual of the Infusoria: Including a Description of All Known Flagellate by William Saville-Kent (1880)
"The rudimentary condition of the pedicle in this species, the lorica being mostly
adherent only by its more attenuate posterior extremity, would seem to ..."
5. Cyclopedia of American Horticulture: Comprising Suggestions for Cultivation by Liberty Hyde Bailey, Wilhelm Miller (1900)
"... attenuate to apex, wavy-margined, veiny, downy, sometimes a foot long: fls.
rose-purple, ascending, arched at the top and the lower lip recurving, ..."
6. The Great Illusion: A Study of the Relation of Military Power to National by Norman Angell (1913)
"... from the existence of a motive for attack—Platitudes that everyone overlooks—To
attenuate the motive for aggression is to undertake a work of defence. ..."
Other Resources:
