Definition of "moderate"

moderate

/ˈmɒdəɹət/

adjective
comparative more moderate, superlative most moderate
1. Not excessive; acting in moderation
  Quotations
  A number of moderate members managed […] to obtain a majority in a thin house.
  1731, Jonathan Swift, The Presbyterians Plea of Merit
2. (pathology) more than mild, less than severe
3. Mediocre
4. Average priced; standard-deal
5. Not violent or rigorous; temperate; mild; gentle.
  Quotations
  These are called the Islands of the Blest; rains fall there seldom, and in moderate showers, but for the most part they have gentle breezes, bringing along with them soft dews
  1859, Arthur Hugh Clough, Life of Sertorius
6. (US, politics) Having an intermediate position between liberal and conservative.
noun
plural moderates
1. One who holds an intermediate position between extremes, as in politics.
  Quotations
  On the other side, RMT General Secretary Mick Lynch (a moderate) has to contend with the hardliners on his executive, whose intentions go way beyond trying to sort out their members' terms and conditions.
  2022 June 29, Christian Wolmar, “Strike settlement held back by ministers”, in RAIL, number 960, page 43
2. (Christianity, historical) One of a party in Scottish Church history dominant in the 18th century, lax in doctrine and discipline, but intolerant of evangelicalism and popular rights. It caused the secessions of 1733 and 1761, and its final resultant was the Disruption of 1843.
verb
third-person singular simple present moderates, present participle moderating, simple past and past participle moderated
1. (transitive) To reduce the excessiveness of (something)
  Quotations
  By its astringent Quality, it moderates the relaxing quality of warm Water.
  1731, John Arbuthnot, An Essay Concerning the Nature of Aliments, and the Choice of Them, According to the Different Constitutions of Human Bodies. […], 1st Irish edition, Dublin: […] S. Powell, for George Risk, […], George Ewing, […], and William Smith, […]
  This leaves two strategies to increase the current in a positron beam. First is to provide a stronger positron source and second is to develop a more efficient method to moderate the source positrons into a monoenergetic beam.
  2000, Paul G. Coleman, Positron Beams and Their Applications, page 309
2. (intransitive) To become less excessive
3. (transitive) To preside over (something) as a moderator
4. (intransitive) To act as a moderator; to assist in bringing to compromise
5. (transitive, physics) To supply with a moderator (substance that decreases the speed of neutrons in a nuclear reactor and hence increases likelihood of fission).

Definition of "moderate"

moderate

adjective

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noun

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verb

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