1. To beat down; to pull down; to destroy in any manner; as to abate a nuisance.

2. To lessen; to diminish; to moderate; as to abate zeal; to abate pride; to abate a demand; to abate courage.

3. To lessen; to mitigate; as to abate pain or sorrow.

4. To overthrow; to cause to fail; to frustrate by judicial sentence; as to abate a writ.

5. To deject; to depress; as to abate the soul. Obs.

6. To deduct;

Nothing to add and nothing to abate.

7. To cause to fail; to annul. By the English law, a legacy to a charity is abated by a deficiency of assets.

8. In Conneticut, to remit, as to abate a tax.

, v.i. To decrease, or become less in strength or violence; as pain abates; a storm abates.

2. To fail; to be defeated, or come to naught; as a writ abates. By the civil law a legacy to a charity does not abate by deficiency of assets.

3. In law, to enter into a freehold after the death of the last occupant, and before the heir or devisee takes possession.

4. In horsemanship, to perform well a downward motion. A horse is said to abate, or take down his curvets, when, working upon curvets, he puts both his hind legs to the ground at once, and observes the same exactness in all the times.