downsize
Use Downsize in a sentence
verb (used with object)
1.
to design or manufacture a smaller version or type of: The automotive industry downsized its cars for improved fuel economy.
2.
to reduce in number; cut back.
adjective
3.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Link To downsize
Collins
World English Dictionary
downsize (ˈdaʊnˌsaɪz) ![[Click for IPA pronunciation guide]](http://static.sfdict.com/dictstatic/g/d/dictionary_questionbutton_default.gif) | |
| —vb , -sizes, -sizing, -sized | |
| 1. | to reduce the operating costs of a company by reducing the number of people it employs |
| 2. | to reduce the size of or produce a smaller version of (something) |
| 3. | Compare rightsize to upgrade (a computer system) by replacing a mainframe or minicomputer with a network of microcomputers |
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
00:10
Downsize
is one of our favorite verbs.
So is skedaddle. Does it mean:
| to run away hurriedly; flee. |
| to spend time idly; loaf. |
Etymonline
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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American Heritage
Cultural Dictionary
downsize definition
To reduce in number, especially personnel: “The company decided to downsize half the workers in the aircraft division.” It can also be used in reference to objects: “I decided to downsize my wardrobe and threw out all my old T-shirts.”
Note: Downsize is a recent euphemism for “fire, lay off.” Company managers often use this term in an attempt to soften the blow of wide-scale layoffs.
The American Heritage® New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition
Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source
Example sentences
Companies can downsize when business conditions demand.
Consultants were as valuable telling companies how to downsize as they were explaining how to expand.
Learning how to downsize farm chores is an obligation that every parent, grandparent, or supervisor should recognize.
But to process light, he needed to downsize the structure to be comparable to the wavelength of light itself.
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