Main entry: mitigation, moderation
Definition: the action of lessening in severity or intensity
Usage: the object being control or moderation of economic depressions
Main entry: extenuation, mitigation, palliation
Definition: to act in such a way as to cause an offense to seem less serious
Main entry: extenuation, mitigation
Definition: a partial excuse to mitigate censure; an attempt to represent an offense as less serious than it appears by showing mitigating circumstances