DEGRADE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does degrade mean? 

• DEGRADE (verb)
  The verb DEGRADE has 3 senses:

1. reduce the level of land, as by erosion

2. reduce in worth or character, usually verbally

3. lower the grade of something; reduce its worth

  Familiarity information: DEGRADE used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DEGRADE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they degrade    ... he / she / it degrades   
Past simple: degraded   
Past participle: degraded   
-ing form: degrading   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Reduce the level of land, as by erosion

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Sentence frames:

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

Antonym:

aggrade (build up to a level by depositing sediment)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Reduce in worth or character, usually verbally

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Synonyms:

degrade; demean; disgrace; put down; take down

Context example:

His critics took him down after the lecture

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

abase; chagrin; humble; humiliate; mortify (cause to feel shame; hurt the pride of)

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

reduce (lower in grade or rank or force somebody into an undignified situation)

dehumanise; dehumanize (deprive of human qualities)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

degradation (changing to a lower state (a less respected state))

degradation (a low or downcast state)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Lower the grade of something; reduce its worth

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

cheapen; degrade

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

aggravate; exacerbate; exasperate; worsen (make worse)

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

devaluate; devalue (remove the value from; deprive of its value)

Sentence frames:

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

Derivation:

degradation (changing to a lower state (a less respected state))

degradation (a low or downcast state)

 Context examples 

They found that 40% more rhodamine B was degraded by the graphene-titania composite than by titania alone, in water under UV irradiation.

(Smog-eating graphene composite reduces atmospheric pollution, University of Cambridge)

This species is motile by peritrichous flagella, oxidase, urease and indole negative, catalase positive, reduces nitrate, does not degrade pectate and produces acid from sorbitol.

(Enterobacter cloacae, NCI Thesaurus)

Once internalized, receptors can either be degraded in lysosomes or they can be recycled back to the cell surface.

(Attenuation of GPCR Signaling Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Finally, the ubiquitinated, deglycosylated protein is degraded by the proteasome.

(Endoplasmic Reticulum Degradation Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Radford, however, cautions that just bringing fish back to degraded reefs will not reverse the degradation seen on many coral reefs.

(Loudspeakers used to attract fish back to dying coral reefs, SciDev.Net)

Monoubiquitination of cell-surface receptors serves as a signal to target them to lysosome, where they are degraded by lysosomal proteases.

(Monoubiquitination, NCI Thesaurus)

Bortezomib reversibly inhibits the 26S proteasome, a large protease complex that degrades ubiquinated proteins.

(Bortezomib, NCI Thesaurus)

This bacteria is motile, oxidase positive, catalase positive, does not reduce nitrates and degrades urea.

(Alcaligenes faecalis, NCI Thesaurus)

Degraded Ras peptides have been shown to stimulate immunogenic response.

(Mutated Ras Peptide, NCI Thesaurus)

Its once-degraded dunes restabilized within two years.

(Sleeping sands of the Kalahari awaken after more than 10,000 years, NSF)