North American genus of ordinary harmless abated (a-bated), p

a. [ A. erythro serpents of the family Colubrid a . grammus is the hoop-snake, an abundant species in damp marshy places in the southern United States. abatable (a-bā'ta-bl), a . [ abate + -able .] Capable of being abated: as, an abatable writ or nuisance. abatamentumt (ab"a-ta-men'tum), n. [ML., after abatement , q. v.] In old Eng . law , the ouster or di eizin of an heir, effected by the wrongful entry of a stranger after the ancestor's death and before the heir had taken po e ion. abate (a-bāt'), v.; pret. and pp. abated , ppr. abating . [ abaten , abatre (F. abat tre), abbatere , ab + batere , popular had orig. a diff. prefix, en- , OF. enbatre , thrust form of batuere , beat. In the legal sense, abate (one's self) into, en , in, + batre , beat. See batter1, v., and batel .] I. trans. 11. To beat down; pull or batter down. The king of Scots sore abated the walls [of the castle of Norham]. Hall , Chronicles, Hen. VIII., an. 5. 2. To deduct; subtract; withdraw from consideration. Nine you sand parishes, abating the odd hundreds. Fuller. 3. To le en; diminish; moderate: as, to abate a demand or a tax. Tully was the first who observed that friendship improves happine and abates misery, by the doubling of our joy and dividing of our grief. 4t. To deject; depre .