downsizev.
/ˈdaʊnsʌɪz/, /ˌdaʊnˈsʌɪz/, U.S. /ˈdaʊnˌsaɪz/ Originally and chiefly U.S.
1. transitive. To label (clothing) as a smaller size. Now rare.
ΚΠ
1968 Phoenix (Arizona) Republic 1 June 35/1 The fashion industry in recent years has been down-sizing some of its merchandise, flattering the American woman's ego as her figure..has changed its dimensions.
1993 Guardian 12 Aug. 13/1 American designer Mark Eisen recently ‘downsized’ his entire collection, relabelling his 8 (UK 10) as size 6.
2. transitive. To design or manufacture (a car or other motor vehicle) with smaller overall dimensions and lower fuel consumption, esp. without reducing interior passenger space or storage capacity. Also intransitive: to design or manufacture smaller, more economical cars.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > motor car > [verb (intransitive)] > design or build (a car) with smaller dimensions
downsize1975
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > motor car > [verb (transitive)] > design or build (a car) with smaller dimensions
downsize1975
1975 Times Herald Rec. (Middletown, N.Y.) 29 May 80/3 By 1981, Markley says, Ford will spend another $2.3 billion..to ‘downsize’ its fleet.
1977 Time 1 Aug. 32/3 The drive to downsize is a result of the ever-tightening federal fuel economy standards.
1986 Jrnl. (Fairfax County, Va.) 23 May c3/1 The vehicle was downsized in the late 1970s, shedding 6.5 inches of wheelbase.
1998 A. Kawahara Origin of Competitive Strength 71 In 1977, when GM decided to downsize its passenger cars, the Cadillac, Oldsmobile, and Buick all began to resemble each other.
2016 Post-Standard (Syracuse, N.Y.) 14 Jan. a15/1 So, GM decided to downsize the decade-old Acadia and make it more maneuverable on city streets and in parking garages.
3. transitive. gen. To reduce the size or scale of (something).
ΘΚΠ
the world > space > extension in space > reduction in size or extent > become reduced in size or extent [verb (intransitive)]
narrowOE
waneOE
smallOE
slakec1380
welk1390
fade1398
lessenc1400
minish?a1425
decay1489
adminisha1500
diminish1520
to grow downwards?1523
ungrow1598
scant1607
settlea1642
to run off1765
dwarf1776
comminute1850
downsize1977
the world > space > extension in space > reduction in size or extent > reduce in size or extent [verb (transitive)]
thinc900
narroweOE
smalleOE
slakea1300
adminisha1325
minisha1382
reduce?c1400
diminish1417
littlea1500
extenuate1555
enstraiten1590
scantle1596
scant1599
bedwarfa1631
epitomize1630
dwarf1638
retrench1640
stunt1659
to take in1700
belittle1785
dwarfify1816
reduct1819
micrify1836
clip1858
downsize1977
1977 Muscatine (Iowa) Jrnl. 8 Oct. 4/1 If you can downgrade a civil service position..you can downsize something—a person's ego, a family's income when the wage earner is laid off..and so forth.
1979 Newsweek 19 Nov. 79 His formal announcement in Washington was similarly down-sized.
1999 Electronic News 4 Jan. 46 Consumer electronics manufacturers are demanding even smaller and lighter components to downsize telecommunication products and handheld computers.
2013 Irish Times 11 Dec. a4/1 The overall package will allow supermini owners to downsize their budgets without having to sacrifice in terms of space or refinement.
2016 Wisconsin State Jrnl. 2 Jan. 1/4 Opposition over the project's height and scale, coupled with rising construction costs, led diocesan leaders to twice downsize their aspirations.
4. transitive. To switch to a smaller model of (a product, esp. a car). Also intransitive: to switch from a larger to a smaller model of a product.
ΚΠ
1979 Alton (Illinois) Tel. 30 June a5/3 While police departments in St. Louis..downsize their patrol cars, Alton continues to buy big gas-guzzling V-8 cruisers.
1988 Computerworld 8 Feb. 76/4 Companies..struggling with complex questions..[like] when to downsize from a mainframe to a mini.
1998 Wall St. Jrnl. 24 Aug. a1 He now has a much smaller handset, and to his delight, his Nextel agent allows him to downsize his phone if his current model becomes obsolete.
2003 Bluefield (W. Va.) Daily Tel. 3 Jan. (Weekend Suppl.) 7/2 Downsize your computer.
2014 Shellbrook (Sask.) Chron. 7 Feb. 16/2 Drivers who downsize their vehicles to a small sedan will likely save themselves a substantial amount of money over the lifetime of the vehicle.
5.
a. transitive. To reduce the size or scope of (a business operation or organization) in order to improve its financial performance, typically by cutting staff numbers. Also intransitive with object implied.
ΚΠ
1982 Fortune 25 Jan. 7/1 Right now he's ‘downsizing’ the company, and hopes to achieve 1982 cost savings of about $600 million.
1989 Orange County (Santa Ana, Calif.) 29 Mar. c2/3 Since the Executive Developer concept began, the company has downsized, laying off almost 1,000 employees.
1991 Times 9 Jan. 15/8 Unwin Hyman..is now being ‘downsized’, with staff losing their jobs and authors like me seeing their books remaindered.
2001 Times 28 Apr. 15/2 The German railway, once a big employer, has downsized.
2017 Variety 13 Dec. 20/1 The Fox studio lot was thrown into turmoil after the corporate mandate came down to downsize operations to the tune of more than 300 employee buyouts.
2018 Philadelphia (Pa.) Tribune 23 Mar. b9 He left school and eventually made his way to Racine, where he worked as a lab tech for a number of years until the company downsized and let him go.
b. transitive. euphemistic or humorous. To dismiss (a person) from employment, to make (a person) redundant, esp. as part of a downsizing process. Frequently in passive.
ΚΠ
1987 Orange County (Calif.) Reg. 6 Dec. k13/1 The new management calls this process ‘downsizing’, leading to conversations among employees whose futures at Columbia seem tenuous in which they ask one another if they have, as yet, been ‘downsized’.
1990 Communication World May 40/3 Communicators were facing tough times on their jobs. Many were getting downsized and outplaced.
2000 Sunday Times (Johannesburg) 4 June (Mag.) 21/3 He has been downsized from his job as an airline employee and forced to retire.
2004 E. Abrahamson Change without Pain iii. 97 Browning decided..that before downsizing him, he would give Green a chance to meet a particular set of goals.
6. intransitive. To move into smaller living accommodation, typically when one's children have grown up and left home.
ΚΠ
1984 Colorado Springs Gaz.-Tel. 15 Apr. g4/6 Keller has aimed his products at first-time buyers, young families, and those wishing to downsize from a larger home.
1996 Guardian 14 Sept. c78/1 In November 1994 Tony and Lyn Craig decided to downsize.
2015 Saga Mag. Aug. 87/1 Some parents and grandparents downsize to help family members get on the property ladder.
Derivatives
ˈdownsized adj.
ΘΚΠ
society > travel > means of travel > a conveyance > vehicle > powered vehicle > motor car > [adjective] > built with larger or smaller dimensions
stretched1960
stretch1971
downsized1975
upsized1977
1975 Automotive Industries 1 Nov. 24/1 For the 1977 model year, when the first ‘downsized’ cars appear, the auto industry will increase its per-car use of aluminum by 15 to 20 lb.
1986 Cambrian News 18 July 14/2 The executive saloon..is abandoning the needlessly large capacity power unit in favour of a sensibly down-sized top end engine.
1993 Cedar Rapids (Iowa) Gaz. 19 Nov. 6 a/3 There are so many of these displaced and downsized workers that there are support groups meeting in churches to give solace and advice.
2007 Daily Herald (Chicago) 21 Jan. (Auto Sunday section) 5/5 General Motors Corp. product Chief Bob Lutz said he sees the biggest opportunity for GM's revenue growth in downsized, ‘crossover’ sport utility vehicles.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2018; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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v.1968