downsize

English

Etymology

From down- +‎ size.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdaʊnsaɪz/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Verb

downsize (third-person singular simple present downsizes, present participle downsizing, simple past and past participle downsized)

1. (intransitive) To reduce in size or number.

   Joe and Edna moved to a bungalow after deciding to downsize when the children had left home.

   The company chose to downsize by laying off half of its workers.

   • 2020 June 3, Philip Haigh, “Who can clean up Manchester's mess?”, in Rail, page 48, photo caption:

     Class 108 DMU LO257 awaits departure from Manchester Victoria on June 19 1991. Possessing 16 platforms in the 1960s, the station was significantly downsized in the early 1990s and today just six platforms remain.

   • 2023 November 25, Alexandra Goss, “Downsizers' dilemma”, in FT Weekend, House & Home, page 1:

     While some of these moves will be prompted by, for instance, releasing equity to help children get on the property ladder, David Fell, Hamptons' senior analyst, says many will probably be downsizing to reduce mortgage payments to a more manageable level.

2. (transitive) To reduce the workforce of.

   Synonym: (euphemistic) rightsize

   Hypernyms: scale back, scale down

   They downsized the division by offering attractive early-retirement packages and selling off an office building.

3. (transitive, euphemistic) To terminate the employment of.

   Synonyms: see Thesaurus:lay off

   Joe got downsized and became a plumber.

Derived terms

• downsizable
• downsizer
• downsizing
• dumbsize

 

Related terms

• rightsize
• upsize

Translations

to reduce in size or number

• Dutch: afslanken (nl), reorganizeren
• Finnish: pienentää (fi)
• French: réduire (fr), diminuer (fr), revoir à la baisse (fr)
• Greek: μειώνω (el) (meióno)
• Swedish: skära ned

to reduce the workforce of

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 裁員 / 裁员 (zh) (cáiyuán)

• Dutch: afslanken (nl), reorganizeren
• Finnish: vähentää työvoimaa
• French: réduire (fr), réajuster (fr)
• Greek: μειώνω (el) (meióno)
• Hungarian: leépít (hu)
• Japanese: ダウンサイジングする (daunsaizingu-surú), リストラする (ja) (risutora-surú)
• Russian: (imperfective) сокраща́ть (ru) (sokraščátʹ), (perfective) сократи́ть (ru) (sokratítʹ)
• Spanish: hacer recortes de personal, hacer recortes de plantilla, reajustar la plantilla

to terminate the employment of

• Dutch: afdanken (nl), afvloeien (nl)
• Finnish: saada potkut
• Hungarian: elbocsát (hu)
• Russian: увольнять (ru) (uvolʹnjatʹ), сокращать (ru) (sokraščatʹ)

Anagrams

• size down