atrophy
verb
[ ˈatrəfi ]
• (of body tissue or an organ) waste away, especially as a result of the degeneration of cells, or become vestigial during evolution.
• "the calf muscles will atrophy"
Similar:
waste away,
waste,
become emaciated,
wither,
shrivel,
shrivel up,
shrink,
become shrunken,
dry up,
decay,
wilt,
decline,
deteriorate,
degenerate,
grow weak,
weaken,
become debilitated,
become enfeebled,
• gradually decline in effectiveness or vigour due to underuse or neglect.
• "the imagination can atrophy from lack of use"
Similar:
peter out,
taper off,
tail off,
dwindle,
deteriorate,
decline,
wane,
fade,
fade away,
fade out,
give in,
give up,
give way,
crumble,
disintegrate,
collapse,
slump,
go downhill,
draw to a close,
subside,
be neglected,
be abandoned,
be disregarded,
be forgotten,
atrophy
noun
• the process of atrophying or state of having atrophied.
• "gastric atrophy"
Similar:
wasting,
wasting away,
emaciation,
withering,
shrivelling,
shrivelling up,
shrinking,
drying up,
wilting,
decaying,
decay,
declining,
deteriorating,
deterioration,
degenerating,
degeneration,
weakening,
debilitation,
enfeeblement,
Opposite:
strengthening,
Origin:
late 16th century: from French atrophier (verb), atrophie (noun), from late Latin atrophia, from Greek, ‘lack of food’, from atrophos ‘poorly nourished’, from a- ‘without’ + trophē ‘food’.
