lower: Meaning and Definition of

low•er

Pronunciation: (lō'ur), [key]
— v.t.
  1. to cause to descend; let or put down: to lower a flag.
  2. to make lower in height or level: to lower the water in a canal.
  3. to reduce in amount, price, degree, force, etc.
  4. to make less loud: Please lower your voice.
  5. to bring down in rank or estimation; degrade; humble; abase (oneself&hasp;), as by some sacrifice of self-respect or dignity: His bad actions lowered him in my eyes.
  6. to make lower in pitch; flatten.
  7. to alter the articulation of (a vowel) by increasing the distance of the tongue downward from the palate:(ä) in the British pronunciation. The vowel of “clerk” is lowered to
—v.i.
  1. to become lower, grow less, or diminish, as in amount, intensity, or degree: The brook lowers in early summer. Stock prices rise and lower constantly.
  2. to descend; sink: the sun lowering in the west.
—adj.
  1. comparative of.
  2. of or pertaining to those portions of a river farthest from the source.
  3. (often cap.) Stratig. noting an early division of a period, system, or the like: the Lower Devonian.
—n.
  1. a denture for the lower jaw.
  2. a lower berth.

low•er

Pronunciation: (lou'ur, lour), [key]
— v.i.
  1. to be dark and threatening, as the sky or the weather.
  2. to frown, scowl, or look sullen; glower: He lowers at people when he's in a bad mood.
—n.
  1. a dark, threatening appearance, as of the sky or weather.
  2. a frown or scowl.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.
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