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Glite Dictionary
to slim down

to slim down

5 3.0
To lose weight and become thinner
  • phrasal verb
  • /slɪm daʊn/
translation icon : adelgazar
  • When you're working to slim down, make exercise a part of your regular daily activities.
  • help you slim down
  • try to slim down
  • want to slim down

Like you found fitness as a way of slimming down and empowering yourself.

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Examples

  • So as you increase muscle and decrease fat, you will slim down and tone up without necessarily losing all that much weight.

    Blog text (26)

  • If you're aiming to slim down, put your loose-fitting clothing away.

    Blog text (1)

  • His body started to slim down; he looked younger, more confident, and was feeling good too.

    Blog text (13)

  • I wondered if she'd try to slim down and get herself another man.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Her legs were growing, but nothing else was, and she had slimmed down to a stick.

    Fiction book (1991)

  • I am really impressed because you have slimmed down further after the surgery.

    Blog text (2)

  • A good way to both save money and slim down is to eat natural foods instead of processed foods.

    Blog text (25)

  • Here are some simple tips on how you can save on groceries while slimming down.

    Blog text (25)

  • Compared to you, I'm enormous, which is saying something, because I've slimmed down quite a bit.

    Horton Hears a Who! (2008)

  • To slim down effectively, try incorporating regular exercise into your routine.

Synonyms

to thin
vsto slim down
38 1.4

To become less thick or crowded, for example a crowd

is focused on reducing body weight rather than altering thickness or concentration
to reduce
vsto slim down
24 2.9

To lose body weight

is for losing weight generally rather than only by dieting
to slim
vsto slim down
8 2.4

To become thinner by losing fat

is the multiword phrasal form used for the same weight loss action
to lose fat
vsto slim down
4 3.0

To reduce the fat on your body by eating less and exercising

is about losing overall body weight rather than only targeting stored tissue
to trim down
vsto slim down
3 3.4

To make something smaller by cutting or removing parts

is specifically about losing body weight rather than general cutting or size reduction
to slenderize
vsto slim down
1 7.3

Make someone or something look thinner

is about actual body weight loss rather than visual changes in appearance

Antonyms

to bulk
  • Jargon
15 5.6

To gain muscle and weight by exercising and eating more

How Thin

to slim down
5 3.0
to diet
24 3.3

Surface Forms

slim down infinitive
slimmed down past
slimmed down past participle
slimming down present participle
slims down third person singular

Morphology

slim + down

The meaning 'to become thinner' is directly compositional from 'slim' (to make or become thinner) plus the particle 'down' which here signals reduction or decrease; the combination yields a predictable sense of losing weight. This verb+down pattern is common and cross-linguistically transparent, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

Slim down comes from a simple picture: slim means thin and down means make less. So the phrase is used for 'to lose weight' or 'to make something smaller'.