abate

/əˈbeɪt/ (bre, ipa) · [əbˈet] /əˈbeɪt/ (ame, ipa) · [əbˈet] /ə-ˈbāt/ (ame, mw)

abate — 動詞

  • abatepresent simple I / you / we / they
  • abateshe / she / it
  • abatedpast simple
  • abating-ing form

1. When something strong or unpleasant such as a storm, noise, pain, or anger gradu

1.動詞不及物C1
釋義

減弱；消退

風暴、疼痛等逐漸減弱消失

When something strong or unpleasant such as a storm, noise, pain, or anger gradually becomes less powerful and finally stops.

例句

After three days of heavy rain, the storm finally began to abate.

下了三天大雨之後，暴風雨終於開始減弱。

abate used for weather that naturally weakens

The night-shift nurse waited for the patient's fever to abate before leaving the room.

值夜班的護士等到病人退燒之後才離開病房。

abate describing a physical symptom easing

同義詞
  • subside

    very close in meaning; subside often suggests a gradual sinking or calming, while abate is slightly more formal

  • ease

    less formal and more common in everyday speech; 'the pain eased'

  • die down

    phrasal verb, less formal; used for noise, wind, or excitement

反義詞
  • intensify

    to become stronger or more extreme

  • worsen

    to become more serious or severe

文法句型

abate (no object)

用法筆記

Subject is usually an unpleasant natural phenomenon or feeling: storm, wind, pain, fever, anger, noise. The verb is not used with a person as subject in this sense.

常見錯誤

❌The rain abated the heat.
✅The heat abated after the rain.
💡in this sense abate is intransitive and takes no object.
❌The medicine abated the pain.
✅The pain abated after the medicine.
💡for the intransitive 'become less' sense, the cause is not the subject.

2. To deliberately make something unpleasant like a problem, pain, pollution, or no

2.動詞及物C1
釋義

減輕；減少

採取行動降低問題或痛苦的強度

To deliberately make something unpleasant like a problem, pain, pollution, or noise weaker, less severe, or less widespread.

例句

The city council took several steps to abate noise from the airport.

市議會採取了多項措施來減輕機場的噪音。

abate + object for deliberate reduction of a problem

Rafael installed thicker windows to abate the traffic noise in his bedroom.

Rafael 安裝了更厚的窗戶，以減少臥室的交通噪音。

同義詞
  • reduce

    more general and common; abate is more formal and carries a sense of relief from something oppressive

  • lessen

    similar meaning but less formal; often used for pain, worry, or impact

  • mitigate

    formal, used especially in law or policy; suggests making something less harmful without fully removing it

反義詞

文法句型

abate + object

用法筆記

The subject is always a person, group, or measure that actively reduces something. Frequently used in formal contexts such as law, environmental policy, or medicine. This is the only sense that can take a direct object.

常見錯誤

❌The storm abated its force.
✅The storm abated.
💡storm cannot abate something else; use the intransitive sense for natural phenomena.