subside
/səbˈsʌɪd
/verb [no object]
1Become less intense, violent, or severe: I’ll wait a few minutes until the storm subsides...
- Along with the warm sunshine, the cruel headwinds of Bank Holiday Monday subsided to a light breeze.
- After muchos medication and sleep, it finally subsided to a regular migraine by about 7pm.
- The pain in my arm had subsided to a dull throb and we both fell asleep straight away, completely exhausted.
Synonyms
abate, let up, moderate, quieten down, calm, lull, slacken (off), ease (up), relent, die down, die out, peter out, taper off, recede, lessen, soften, alleviate, attenuate, remit, diminish, decline, dwindle, weaken, fade, wane, ebb, still, cease, come to a stop, come to an end, terminate
1.1Lapse into silence or inactivity: Fergus opened his mouth to protest again, then subsided...
- Its initial hisses of displeasure subside to contented silence.
- Her coughing had subsided for the moment and she had lapsed into much needed sleep.
- When the noise subsides, I fall into conversation with the young man on my left.
1.2 (subside in/into) Give way to (an overwhelming feeling, especially laughter): Anthony and Mark subsided into mirth...
- When the laughter subsided into sporadic giggles, Hannah looked up at her best friend.
- They soon subsided into a bout of laughter while tears of mirth glistened in their eyes.
- As Jean's family and friends assemble on the dust-choked incline, the mood has subsided into dejection, and hundreds perch on the walls around the cemetery, staring vacantly out across the hills.
2(Of water) go down to a lower or the normal level: the floods subside almost as quickly as they arise...
- Fortunately for now, most of that flood water has subsided from that point.
- The water rapidly subsided back to normal levels leaving me on a falling building.
- The flood water subsided within an hour, leaving Mr and Mrs Ingram with soggy carpets to dry out.
Synonyms
recede, ebb, fall back, flow back, fall away, fall, go down, get lower, sink, sink lower;
abate, diminish
rare retrocede
2.1(Of the ground) cave in; sink: the island is subsiding...
- So, that whole platform of south Louisiana is subsiding; it's sinking.
- The 47-year-old had parked up at 6pm on Tuesday, when neighbours saw the ground beginning to subside beneath the car.
- At some point the volcanic island subsides enough for it to submerge, leaving an atoll behind.
Synonyms
sink, sink back, settle, cave in, fall in, collapse, crumple, give way, drop down, sag, slump
2.2(Of a building or other structure) sink lower into the ground: a ditch which caused the tower to subside slightly...
- Two Marlborough town councillors fear cracks in the front wall of the town hall could threaten the building, even though an architect has said there was no evidence the building is subsiding.
- On the other hand, many old houses subsided, whose grounds are even lower than that of streets.
- Some also said the mine might make their homes subside, but a council investigation found no evidence of this.
2.3(Of a swelling) reduce until gone: it took seven days for the swelling to subside completely...
- Definitive therapy is root canal treatment or extraction, which in selected cases may be delayed until swelling has subsided.
- After 3 to 7 days, testicular pain and swelling subside, usually at about the same time that the fever passes.
- Once your period starts, the swelling subsides and your breasts return to normal.
2.4 [no object, with adverbial] Sink into a sitting, kneeling, or lying position: Patrick subsided into his seat...
- Slowly my pulse falls, the blood pressure drops, the feeling of sickness in the pit of my stomach slowly subsides.
- She rowed the boat down the waterway, her anger slowly subsiding.
- The pain of his struggles to remain true to his vows slowly subsides, and he and Margaret achieve a peace in which passion is subsumed in the love of God.
Synonyms
slump, flop, sink, sag, slouch, loll, fall back, collapse, settle
informal flump, plonk oneself, plop oneself
Origin
Late 17th century: from Latin subsidere, from sub- 'below' + sidere 'settle' (related to sedere 'sit').