lowering

Noun

lowering (plural lowerings)

1. The act of something being lowered.
   • Speeds up to 90 m.p.h. were permitted and achieved on the regular daily main line services, but as the pressure of external demands imposed on the railways by the needs of war increased it became necessary to accept handicaps which resulted in a general lowering of standards of track conditions.1953 September, “Restoring British Permanent Way to Prewar Standards”, in Railway Magazine, page 584
2. A sound change in which a vowel or consonant becomes lower.

   Antonyms:

   raising

Adjective

US/ˈlaʊərɪŋ/UK/ˈlaʊərɪŋ/

lowering (comparative more lowering, superlative most lowering)

1. Dark and menacing.
   • The morning had been intensely hot, with but little wind; and the lowering gloomy aspect of the clouds appeared to indicate the approach of one of those sudden gales peculiar to tropical climates, and which, although of short duration, are generally productive of mischief.1827, Anonymus, Two Years in Ava from May 1824 to May 1826, page 17
   • The wide prospect up stream was grey and lowering, the long still-distant waterfront of Dundee, and the Fife shore were alike colourless, and there was ample evidence of rough weather not far ahead.1947 January and February, O. S. Nock, “"The Aberdonian" in Wartime”, in Railway Magazine, page 7

   Synonyms:

   gloomy, threatening

2. That lowers or frowns.
   • One glance sufficed to identify the intruder, for none but he could boast of such a dark, lowering countenance ; and all exclaimed in mingled wonder and terror at his unwonted presence in those sunlit regions:2012, H. A. Guerber, The Myths of Greece and Rome, →ISBN
   • A kind of dark pallor lent him a ghostly appearance in the uncertain light, an effect heightened by the satanic darkness of his lowering brows.2013, Robert E Howard, Red Shadows, →ISBN

   Synonyms:

   frowning, scowling, gloomy, sullen, glowering

3. Lurking, skulking, menacing.
   • Klimov put on his greatcoat mechanically and left the train, and he felt as though it were not himself walking, but some one else, a stranger, and he felt that he was accompanied by the heat of the train, his thirst, and the ominous, lowering figures which all night long had prevented his sleeping.1887, Anton Pavlovich Chekhov, Typhus
   • They might have stayed until dusk, undisturbed by Schmidt's casual customers, had it not been for the entrance of three grimy and lowering men.1906, The Saturday Evening Post - Volume 178, page 14