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The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 (gcide)

Attenuate \At*ten"u*ate\, v. i.
To become thin, slender, or fine; to grow less; to lessen.
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The attention attenuates as its sphere contracts.
--Coleridge.
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Attenuate \At*ten"u*ate\, Attenuated \At*ten"u*a`ted\, a. [L.
attenuatus, p. p.]
1. Made thin or slender.
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2. Made thin or less viscid; rarefied. --Bacon.
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Attenuate \At*ten"u*ate\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Attenuated}; p.
pr. & vb. n. {Attenuating}.] [L. attenuatus, p. p. of
attenuare; ad tenuare to make thin, tenuis thin. See
{Thin}.]
1. To make thin or slender, as by mechanical or chemical
action upon inanimate objects, or by the effects of
starvation, disease, etc., upon living bodies.
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2. To make thin or less consistent; to render less viscid or
dense; to rarefy. Specifically: To subtilize, as the
humors of the body, or to break them into finer parts.
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3. To lessen the amount, force, or value of; to make less
complex; to weaken.
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To undersell our rivals . . . has led the
manufacturer to . . . attenuate his processes, in
the allotment of tasks, to an extreme point. --I.
Taylor.
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We may reject and reject till we attenuate history
into sapless meagerness. --Sir F.
Palgrave.
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