Full Definition of DECREASE. intransitive verb. : to grow progressively less (as in size, amount, number, or intensity). transitive verb. : to cause to decrease. â deÂ·creasÂ·ingÂ·ly \di-ËkrÄ-siÅ-lÄ, dÄ-\ adverb. See decrease defined for English-language learners.See decrease defined for kids. ADVERTISEMENT.ynonym Discussion of DECREASE. decrease, lessen, diminish, reduce, abate, dwindle mean to grow or make less. decrease suggests a progressive decline in size, amount, numbers, or intensity. lessen suggests a decline in amount rather than in number.
home / study / social sciences / sociology / definitions / sex vs. gender. Sex refers to the biological distinction between males and females; by contrast, gender concerns the social differences between males and females. Research in sociology focuses on gender rather than sex; sociologists distinguish between sex and gender to study differences between human males and females with greater precision.
A distinction is sometimes made between sex and gender. Sex differences generally refer to traits that are sexually dimorphic. Such differences are hypothesized to be products of the evolutionary process of sexual selection. By contrast, the term gender differences refers to average group differences between males and females that are presumably based on sexually monomorphic (the same between the sexes) biological adaptations.