Abate, (cf. Bate) 1) tr. a) to beat down, to overthrow, to humble: “most --d captives,” Cor. III, 3, 132.
b) to weaken, to diminish: “air and water do a. the fire,” Ven. 654. Tp. IV, 56. Mids. III, 2, 432 (a. thy hours, == shorten). Merch. V, 198. Shr. Ind. 1, 137. H5 III, 2, 24. Tit. I, 43. Rom. IV, 1, 120. Hml. IV, 7, 116.
c) to blunt, to take off the edge of: “a. the edge of traitors,” R3 V, 5, 35. “from his metal was his party steeled; which once in him --d, all the rest turned on themselves,” H4B I, 1, 117.
d) to reduce in estimation: “I would a. her nothing,” Cymb. I, 4, 73.
e) to deduct, to except: “a. throw at novum,” LLL V, 2, 547.
f) to curtail, with of: “she hath --d me of half my train,” Lr. II, 4, 161.
2) intr. (used by none but Pistol), to decrease: “and fury shall a.” H5 II, 1, 70. IV, 4, 50.
Shakespeare Lexicon. Alexander Schmidt. Berlin. Georg Reimer. 1902.
This text was converted to electronic form by professional data entry and has been proofread to a high level of accuracy.
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