01 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 l…
imp. & p. p.
Attenuated; p. pr. & vb. n.
Attenuating
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1.
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.
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2.
To make thin or less consistent; to render less viscid or dense; to rarefy. Specifically: To subtilize, as the humors of the body, or to break them into finer parts.
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3.
To lessen the amount, force, or value of; to make less complex; to weaken.“To undersell our rivals . . . has led the manufacturer to . . . attenuate his processes, in the allotment of tasks, to an extreme point.” — I. Taylor.“We may reject and reject till we attenuate history into sapless meagerness.” — Sir F. Palgrave.