lessenedadj.

1565 T. Norton & T. Sackville Gorboduc i. ii. sig. A.vi With lessened strength the double weight to beare.

1648 B. Gerbier Interpreter Acad. Forrain Langs. ii. 18 The lessened angle [Fr. l'angle diminué], is the angle where the outward face and the Polygone doe cut own an nother.

1676 J. Dryden Aureng-Zebe i. 12 You hold the Glass, but turn the Perspective; And farther off the lessen'd Object drive.

1702 J. H. Compl. Gentleman Soldier 165 Bastard Cannons or lessened Cannons have ¾ at their Touch-hole [of the thickness of the Bore, in thickness of the Metal].

1749 H. Fielding Tom Jones I. ii. vi. 127 So far was he from doubling his Industry on the account of his lessened Income, that he did in a manner abandon himself to despair.

1811 W. R. Spencer Poems Ded. My eyes Upon its lessen'd garland casting.

1817 G. R. Dawson in Parl. Deb. 1st Ser. 6 The prospect of a lessened expenditure.

1880 R. Bridges Poems iii. 9 With lessened load a few carts creak and blunder.

1949 Cancer Res. 9 559/1 Evidence was found indicating that the invasiveness of the cancer cells depended on their lessened adhesiveness.

2011 Tampa Bay (Florida) Times (Nexis) 5 Apr. b1 Funding for Ms. Kennedy's AIDS program ran dry. Public perception of a lessened danger may have had something to do with that.