I am at a loss to know why they make such an ado about the lady who jumps through paper hoops, which have first had holes poked in them to render her transit easy, or why it should be thought such a merit in her to hop over a succession of banners which are swept under her feet in a manner to minify her exertion almost to nothing, but I observe it is so at all circuses.
"Short Stories and Essays From "Literature and Life""
William Dean Howells
Best of all, it would greatly minify the evils of bribery for reasons given above.
"Studies in Civics"
James T. McCleary
What is apparent from the whole affair is that the old ideal of one's inn, as a place where one shall take one's ease, has perished in the evolution of the magnificent American hotel which we have been maliciously seeking to minify in the image of its Old World germ.
"Imaginary Interviews"
W. D. Howells