downsizing

«downsizing» in Mova's school dictionary: when a company makes itself smaller by cutting jobs… — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples.

part of speech

noun (downsizing — uncountable); verb form of downsize (downsize, downsizes, downsized, downsizing)

meaning for a pupil

1) Downsizing is when a company makes itself smaller by cutting jobs; workers lose their jobs. tree →

2) Downsizing is moving to a smaller house or having fewer things, often when children have grown up. tree →

3) (euphemism) Companies say "downsizing" as a softer word for sacking workers. tree →

sense in the lessons

In news and economics: a company announces downsizing. In everyday life grandparents downsize to a smaller flat. A euphemism: it hides the hard fact that people lose their jobs. Phrases: downsizing of staff, downsize to.

examples

• The factory's downsizing meant 50 people lost their jobs. tree →
• After the children left home, my grandparents downsized to a bungalow. tree →
• The company called it downsizing, but Dad was let go. tree →
• Downsizing a team can make the others work harder. tree →
• We are downsizing our toy collection and giving some away. tree →
• The shop is downsizing to a smaller building. tree →

note

Uncountable noun. Similar euphemisms: cutbacks, restructuring, let go, made redundant. In maths: if a company with 400 workers cuts 25 percent, 100 jobs go and 300 are left.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «downsizing» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.