downgrade 復習
メキシコなどの中米で猛威を振るったハリケーンネイトが熱帯雨に下降し、米国ミシシッピ州やアラバマ州に上陸しました。
Nate downgraded to tropical storm, moves farther inland
Hurricane Nate was downgraded to a tropical storm around 4:30 a.m. ET Sunday, with maximum winds of 70 mph.
The storm, moving north-northeast at 23 mph, is moving farther inland over Mississippi and Alabama.
Nate made its second landfall as a Category 1 storm around 1:30 a.m. ET near Biloxi, Mississippi, with maximum winds of 85 mph, the National Hurricane Center announced.
At the time of the second landfall there were reports of 4 to 5 feet of storm surge along several Gulf Coast cities in southern Mississippi and southern Alabama, ABC News meteorologist Daniel Manzo said.
取り上げる単語は"downgrade"です。『ジーニアス英和辞典』第４版（大修館）で調べてみると、「下り坂、落ち目、悪化」や「格下げする、傷つける、軽視する、…の評価を下げる」などの意味があることが分かりました。ここでは、ハリケーンの勢いが弱まったことを表しています。LDOCEでは、"to make a job less important, or to move someone to a less important job"や"to make something seem less important or valuable than it is"と定義されています。因みに反意語は"upgrade"です。(AKim)
