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to make (a liquid) thinner or weaker by the addition of water or the like.
to make fainter, as a color.
to reduce the strength, force, or efficiency of by admixture.
to become diluted.
reduced in strength, as a chemical by admixture; weak:
a dilute solution.
Contemporary Examples

The other obvious way to help your body deal with excessive toxins from that large meal is to dilute the toxins by drinking more.
How to Recover from Christmas Dave Asprey December 24, 2013

“The comparisons tend to dilute the real significance of the Holocaust,” he says.
In Jerusalem, the Holocaust Is Trivialized Dan Ephron January 3, 2012

To dilute the bitterness, the less-than-brave steep them in green tea.
The Wildest Hangover Cures From Around the World Nina Strochlic November 28, 2013

The minute you undermine the insurance, or dilute it, a bank run might ensue.
Cyprus on Fire? Blame the German Bullies. Daniel Gross March 18, 2013

I also refuse to dilute the power of the accusation through inaccurate overuse.
Hagel: Not An Anti-Semite, Just A Slob Gil Troy December 18, 2012

Historical Examples

Boil this water for an hour, adding a pinch of salt, and use it to dilute the milk instead of water.
Public School Domestic Science Mrs. J. Hoodless

Find the bottle marked “HCl, dilute 1-3,” in which the acid is already diluted.
Common Science Carleton W. Washburne

It is heated to boiling, and dilute sulphuric acid is added till no further precipitation takes place.
A Textbook of Assaying: For the Use of Those Connected with Mines. Cornelius Beringer and John Jacob Beringer

dilute with water in the proportion of one part of the solution to seventy-five of water.
Checking the Waste Mary Huston Gregory

When this is the case, it is placed once more in the dilute sulphuric acid.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 433, April 19, 1884 Various

verb
to make or become less concentrated, esp by adding water or a thinner
to make or become weaker in force, effect, etc: he diluted his story
adjective
(chem)

(of a solution, suspension, mixture, etc) having a low concentration or a concentration that has been reduced by admixture
(of a substance) present in solution, esp a weak solution in water: dilute acetic acid

v.

1550s, from Latin dilutus, past participle of diluere “dissolve, wash away, dilute,” from dis- “apart” + -luere, comb. form of lavere “to wash” (see lave). Related: Diluted; diluting. As an adjective from c.1600.

dilute di·lute (dī-lōōt’, dĭ-)
v. di·lut·ed, di·lut·ing, di·lutes
To reduce a solution or mixture in concentration, quality, strength, or purity, as by adding water. adj.
Thinned or weakened by diluting.
di·lu’tive adj.