lower

Etymology 1

low + -er (comparative suffix)

adj

1. comparative form of low: more low
2. bottom; more towards the bottom than the middle of an object
3. Situated on lower ground, nearer a coast, or more southerly.
   Lower Manhattan
   Lower Burgundy
4. (geology, of strata or geological time periods) older

adv

1. comparative form of low: more low

verb

1. (transitive) To let descend by its own weight, as something suspended; to let down
   lower a bucket into a well
   to lower a sail of a boat
   1833 (first publication), Alfred Tennyson, A Dream of Fair Women Lower'd softly with a threefold cord of love Down to a silent grave.
   At level crossings where there are to be half-barriers, train-operated through track-circuiting, the barriers will be timed to lower fully about five seconds before the fastest train can reach the crossing. 1960 September, “Talking of Trains: New level-crossing signs”, in Trains Illustrated, page 519
2. (transitive) to pull down
   to lower a flag
3. (transitive) To reduce the height of
   lower a fence or wall
   lower a chimney or turret
4. (transitive) To depress as to direction
   lower the aim of a gun
5. (transitive) To make less elevated
   to lower one's ambition, aspirations, or hopes
6. (transitive) To reduce the degree, intensity, strength, etc., of
   lower the temperature
   lower one's vitality
   lower distilled liquors
   Please lower your voices. This is a library.
7. (transitive) To bring down; to humble
   lower one's pride
8. (reflexive) To humble oneself; to do something one considers to be beneath one's dignity.
   I could never lower myself enough to buy second-hand clothes.
9. (transitive) To reduce (something) in value, amount, etc.
   lower the price of goods
   lower the interest rate
10. (intransitive) To fall; to sink; to grow less; to diminish; to decrease
    The river lowered as rapidly as it rose.
11. (intransitive) To decrease in value, amount, etc.
12. (computing, transitive) To reduce operations to single machine instructions, as part of compilation of a program.

Etymology 2

verb

1. Alternative spelling of lour
   And still when loudliest howls the storm, / And darkliest lowers his native sky, / The king's fierce soul is in that form, / The warrior's spirit threatens nigh! 1846, R[obert] S[tephen] Hawker, “The Wreck”, in Echoes from Old Cornwall, London: Joseph Masters,[…], →OCLC, stanza X, page 76