ATTENUATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does attenuate mean? 

• ATTENUATE (adjective)
  The adjective ATTENUATE has 1 sense:

1. reduced in strength

  Familiarity information: ATTENUATE used as an adjective is very rare.

• ATTENUATE (verb)
  The verb ATTENUATE has 2 senses:

1. weaken the consistency of (a chemical substance)

2. become weaker, in strength, value, or magnitude

  Familiarity information: ATTENUATE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ATTENUATE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Reduced in strength

Synonyms:

attenuate; attenuated; faded; weakened

Context example:

the faded tones of an old recording

Similar:

decreased; reduced (made less in size or amount or degree)

• ATTENUATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they attenuate    ... he / she / it attenuates   
Past simple: attenuated   
Past participle: attenuated   
-ing form: attenuating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Weaken the consistency of (a chemical substance)

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

attenuate; rarefy

Hypernyms (to "attenuate" is one way to...):

weaken (lessen the strength of)

Domain category:

chemical science; chemistry (the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

attenuation (the property of something that has been weakened or reduced in thickness or density)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Become weaker, in strength, value, or magnitude

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "attenuate" is one way to...):

weaken (become weaker)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "attenuate"):

refine (attenuate or reduce in vigor, strength, or intensity by polishing or purifying)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Derivation:

attenuation (weakening in force or intensity)

attenuator (an electrical device for attenuating the strength of an electrical signal)

 Context examples 

A vaccine containing bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG), an attenuated strain of Mycobacterium bovis, with non-specific immunoadjuvant and immunotherapeutic activities.

(BCG Vaccine, NCI Thesaurus)

Scan without any subject or attenuating material, but with a source, present.

(Blank Radiographic Scan, NCI Thesaurus)

An attenuated oncolytic Edmonston (Ed) strain of measles virus (MV) encoding the soluble extracellular N-terminal domain of human carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) (MV-CEA) with potential antineoplastic activity.

(Carcinoembryonic Antigen-Expressing Measles Virus, NCI Thesaurus)

Spores of the bacterial strain Clostridium novyi-NT, the attenuated obligate anaerobic C. novyi, with potential immunostimulating, bacteriolytic, and antineoplastic activities.

(Clostridium Novyi-NT Spores, NCI Thesaurus)

Although the precise mechanism of action is unknown, upon intravesical administration, attenuated, live BCG bacteria in the solution come into direct contact with the bladder wall, inciting an antitumor granulomatous inflammatory reaction.

(BCG solution, NCI Thesaurus)

The vaccine was created using a live-attenuated (weakened) vesicular stomatitis virus to deliver proteins that elicit protective immune responses.

(Study vaccine protects monkeys against four types of hemorrhagic fever viruse, National Institutes of Health)

A vaccine derived from bacteria whether killed, attenuated or live that is used for prophylaxis or treatment against infection.

(Bacterial Vaccine, NCI Thesaurus)

An attenuated strain of Mycobacterium bovis with non-specific immunoadjuvant and immunotherapeutic properties.

(BCG, NCI Thesaurus)

A method of delineating blood vessels by subtracting a tissue background image from an image of tissue plus intravascular contrast material that attenuates the X-ray photons.

(Digital Subtraction Angiography, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

The truncated form of KISS1, metastin, inhibits chemotaxis and invasion of GPR54-transfected CHO cells in vitro and attenuates pulmonary metastasis of GPR54-transfected B16-BL6 melanomas in vivo.

(G Protein-Coupled Receptor 54, NCI Thesaurus)