deboost

English

Etymology

From de- +‎ boost.

Verb

deboost (third-person singular simple present deboosts, present participle deboosting, simple past and past participle deboosted)

1. (transitive, intransitive) To slow a spacecraft by reducing thrust, typically in order to achieve a stable orbit.
   • 1967 November 10, “Defense: The Space Bomb”, in TIME‎^[1]:

     This combination would prevent anti-ballistic missile radar (BMEWS), presently the U.S.’s main screen against surprise attack, from ascertaining the point of impact until the rocket “deboosts”-about three minutes and 500 miles from target.

2. (transitive, Internet) To limit or suppress the reach of an account or post.
   • 2022 November 28, Joe Youngblood, “How to Tell if You Have Been Shadow Banned or Deboosted on Twitter”, in Joe Youngblood‎^[2]:

     In one tweet Elon appears to allude to the fact that Twitter’s internal systems can apply a shadow ban and deboost an account on their own, without any human interference or knowledge. […] Outside of the Twitter Terms of Service there are no guidelines for when or how a user could be shadow banned or deboosted – likely, because until recently most users were unaware that such a thing could occur to them.

   • 2023 March 16, Andrew Isker, “The Regime’s War To Make Memes Illegal”, in Gab News‎^[3]:

     And it was not as though they were unable, as the waves of bannings and algorithmic deboosting of those on the online right began in earnest after 2016.

Antonyms

• boost

Related terms

• debooster

Noun

deboost (plural deboosts)

1. A slowing manoeuvre of this kind.

Anagrams

• bestood, boosted