abate: stresses a progressive diminishing: waited until the storm ~d.   (diminish稍微减小emphasizes a perceptible loss and implies its subtraction from a total，如his muscular strength has diminished with age随着年龄增长，他的肌肉力量逐渐减小）


subside: suggests a falling to a low level and an easing of turbulence: the protests ~d after a few days.   turbulence湍流动荡风暴，和disturb词根相同     又如the flood waters gradually subsided洪水缓缓回落，如weak foundations caused the house to subside由于地基不实房子出现下陷


wane: adds to abate an implication of fading or weakening: a ~ing moon; and is often used of something impressive or intense: the public’s ~ing interest in spaceflight.     fade表示逐渐变淡变弱消失to gradually grow faint or lose color or disappear，有首歌名叫faded消逝    又如the moon waxes and wanes every month月亮每个月都有圆缺


ebb: suggests a gradual waning, especially of something that commonly comes and goes: vitality often ~s with illness.


abate减小减弱: 强调逐渐减小，subside下降平息:  表示水平下降或风暴平息，wane衰减衰弱: 表示变弱消逝，特别是壮观的事物，ebb衰减退潮: 表示时常起落的事物衰减衰弱


记忆方法: 1）首字母排序成AWES敬畏<==消退      "消"本是名词，表示"枯水期中大河变成的小河"，"肖"既是声旁也是形旁，表示"小或变小"，引申为消除消灭消散等

         2）消退的意思是力量强度减弱mean to die down in force or intensity.   (die down平息means to become much quieter or less intense，如the rain remained steady though the wind had died down风势已经减弱，雨还是下个不停)