Decrease and Terminate

noun

• A change downward.
  • usage: "there was a decrease in his temperature as the fever subsided"; "there was a sharp drop-off in sales"
  • synonyms: lessening, drop-off
• A process of becoming smaller or shorter.
  • synonyms: decrement
• The amount by which something decreases.
  • synonyms: decrement
• The act of decreasing or reducing something.
  • synonyms: diminution, reduction, step-down

verb

• Decrease in size, extent, or range.
  • usage: "The amount of homework decreased towards the end of the semester"; "The cabin pressure fell dramatically"; "her weight fell to under a hundred pounds"; "his voice fell to a whisper"
  • synonyms: diminish, lessen, fall
• Make smaller.
  • usage: "He decreased his staff"
  • synonyms: lessen, minify

• (v.t.) To cause to grow less; to diminish gradually; as, extravagance decreases one's means.
• (v.) A becoming less; gradual diminution; decay; as, a decrease of revenue or of strength.
• (n.) To grow less, -- opposed to increase; to be diminished gradually, in size, degree, number, duration, etc. or in strength, quality or excellence; as, they days decrease in length from June to December.
• (v.) The wane of the moon.

verb

• Bring to an end or halt.
  • usage: "She ended their friendship when she found out that he had once been convicted of a crime"; "The attack on Poland terminated the relatively peaceful period after WW I"
  • synonyms: end
• Have an end, in a temporal, spatial, or quantitative sense; either spatial or metaphorical.
  • usage: "the bronchioles terminate in a capillary bed"; "Your rights stop where you infringe upon the rights of other"; "My property ends by the bushes"; "The symphony ends in a pianissimo"
  • synonyms: end, stop, finish, cease
• Be the end of; be the last or concluding part of.
  • usage: "This sad scene ended the movie"
  • synonyms: end
• Terminate the employment of; discharge from an office or position.
  • usage: "The boss fired his secretary today"; "The company terminated 25% of its workers"
  • synonyms: displace, fire, give notice, can, dismiss, give the axe, send away, sack, force out, give the sack

• (v.i.) To be limited in space by a point, line or surface; to stop short; to end; to cease; as, the torrid zone terminates at the tropics.
• (v.i.) To come to a limit in time; to end; to close.
• (v.t.) To set a term or limit to; to form the extreme point or side of; to bound; to limit; as, to terminate a surface by a line.
• (v.t.) Hence, to put the finishing touch to; to bring to completion; to perfect.
• (v.t.) To put an end to; to make to cease; as, to terminate an effort or a controversy.