Emily Dickinson Lexicon

A-BATE', v.t. [Fr. abattre, to beat down; battre, to beat, to strike; Sp. batir, abatir; Port. bater, abater; It. battere, abattere; Heb. Ch. חבט, habat; to beat; Syr. ܚܒܛ id. Ar. خَبَطَ gabata, to beat, and كَبَتََ kabata, to beat down, to prostrate. The Saxon has the participle gebatod, abated. The prefix is sunk to a in abate, and lost in beat. See Class Bd. No. 23, 33.]

1. To beat down; to pull down; to destroy in any manner; as, to abate a nuisance.
2. To lessen; to diminish; to moderate; as, to abate zeal; to abate pride; to abate a demand; to abate courage.
3. To lessen; to mitigate; as, to abate pain or sorrow.
4. To overthrow; to cause to fail; to frustrate by judicial sentence; as, to abate a writ.
5. To deject; to depress; as, to abate the soul. [Obs.]
6. To deduct. Nothing to add and nothing to abate. – Pope.
7. To cause to fail; to annul. By the English law, a legacy to a charity is abated by a deficiency of assets.
8. To remit; as, to abate a tax.