Adjacent Words

Dilute definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DILUTE, v.t. [L., to wash. See Deluge.]
1. Literally, to wash; but appropriately, to render liquid, or more liquid; to make thin, or more fluid. Thus sirup or molasses is made thin or more liquid by an admixture with water; and the water is said to dilute it. Hence,
2. To weaken, as spirit or an acid, by an admixture of water, which renderst the spirit or acid less concentrated. Thus, we dilute spirit, wine or a decoction by adding to it water.
3. To make weak or weaker, as color, by mixture.
4. To weaken; to reduce the strength or standard of; as, to dilute virtue.
DILUTE, a. Thin; attenuated; reduced in strength, as spirit or color.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: reduced in strength or concentration or quality or purity; "diluted alcohol"; "a dilute solution"; "dilute acetic acid" [syn: diluted, dilute] [ant: undiluted] v
1: lessen the strength or flavor of a solution or mixture; "cut bourbon" [syn: dilute, thin, thin out, reduce, cut]
2: corrupt, debase, or make impure by adding a foreign or inferior substance; often by replacing valuable ingredients with inferior ones; "adulterate liquor" [syn: load, adulterate, stretch, dilute, debase]

Merriam Webster's

I. transitive verb (diluted; diluting) Etymology: Latin dilutus, past participle of diluere to wash away, dilute, from di- + lavere to wash — more at lye Date: circa 1555 1. attenuate 2. to make thinner or more liquid by admixture <diluted wine> 3. to diminish the strength, flavor, or brilliance of by admixture <dilute a color> 4. to decrease the per share value of (common stock) by increasing the total number of shares • diluter or dilutor noun • dilutive adjective II. adjective Date: 1605 weak, diluted • diluteness noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. & adj. --v.tr. 1 reduce the strength of (a fluid) by adding water or another solvent. 2 weaken or reduce the strength or forcefulness of, esp. by adding something. --adj. also 1 (esp. of a fluid) diluted, weakened. 2 (of a colour) washed out; low in saturation. 3 Chem. a (of a solution) having relatively low concentration of solute. b (of a substance) in solution (dilute sulphuric acid). Derivatives: diluter n. dilution n. Etymology: L diluere dilut- (as DI-(2), luere wash)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dilute Di*lute", v. i. To become attenuated, thin, or weak; as, it dilutes easily.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dilute Di*lute", a. [L. dilutus, p. p.] Diluted; thin; weak. A dilute and waterish exposition. --Hopkins.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Dilute Di*lute", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Diluted; p. pr. & vb. n. Diluting.] [L. dilutus, p. p. of diluere to wash away, dilute; di- = dis- + luere, equiv. to lavare to wash, lave. See Lave, and cf. Deluge.] 1. To make thinner or more liquid by admixture with something; to thin and dissolve by mixing. Mix their watery store. With the chyle's current, and dilute it more. --Blackmore. 2. To diminish the strength, flavor, color, etc., of, by mixing; to reduce, especially by the addition of water; to temper; to attenuate; to weaken. Lest these colors should be diluted and weakened by the mixture of any adventitious light. --Sir I. Newton.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(dilutes, diluting, diluted) 1. If a liquid is diluted or dilutes, it is added to or mixes with water or another liquid, and becomes weaker. If you give your baby juice, dilute it well with cooled, boiled water... The liquid is then diluted... The poisons seeping from Hanford's contaminated land quickly dilute in the water. VERB: V n prep, be V-ed, V, also V n • dilution ...ditches dug for sewage dilution. 2. A dilute liquid is very thin and weak, usually because it has had water added to it. ...a dilute solution of bleach. ADJ: usu ADJ n 3. If someone or something dilutes a belief, quality, or value, they make it weaker and less effective. There was a clear intention to dilute black voting power... VERB: V n • dilution ...a potentially devastating dilution of earnings per share. N-UNCOUNT: oft N of n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

I. v. a. 1. Thin (with water or other liquid), make more liquid, make thinner. 2. Attenuate, reduce, weaken, thin, make thin, make weak. II. a. Thin, diluted, attenuated, weak.

Moby Thesaurus

abate, adulterate, adulterated, alleviate, alter, attenuate, baptize, bastardize, bate, blow off, cast forth, clear away, contaminate, corrupt, cut, debase, decrease, denaturalize, denature, diluted, diminish, dispel, dissipate, dissolve, doctor, doctor up, drive away, ease, emacerate, emaciate, etherealize, evaporate, expand, extenuate, fortify, impaired, impoverished, irrigate, lace, lessen, liquefy, mitigate, moderate, modify, pollute, qualify, rarefy, reduce, reduced, remit, slacken, sophisticated, spike, subtilize, tamper with, temper, thicken, thin, thin away, thin down, thin out, volatilize, washy, water, water down, watered-down, waterish, watery, weak, weaken, weakened