Emily Dickinson Lexicon

BATE, v.t. [Fr. battre, to beat, to batter; but perhaps from abattre, to beat down. The literal sense is, to beat, strike, thrust; to force down. See Beat.]

To lessen by retrenching, deducting or reducing; as, to bate the wages of the laborer; to bate good cheer. – Locke. Dryden. [We now use abate.]