REDUCE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does reduce mean? 

• REDUCE (verb)
  The verb REDUCE has 20 senses:

1. cut down on; make a reduction in

2. make less complex

3. bring to humbler or weaker state or condition

4. simplify the form of a mathematical equation of expression by substituting one term for another

5. lower in grade or rank or force somebody into an undignified situation

6. be the essential element

7. reduce in size; reduce physically

8. lessen and make more modest

9. make smaller

10. to remove oxygen from a compound, or cause to react with hydrogen or form a hydride, or to undergo an increase in the number of electrons

11. narrow or limit

12. put down by force or intimidation

13. undergo meiosis

14. reposition (a broken bone after surgery) back to its normal site

15. destress and thus weaken a sound when pronouncing it

16. reduce in scope while retaining essential elements

17. be cooked until very little liquid is left

18. cook until very little liquid is left

19. lessen the strength or flavor of a solution or mixture

20. take off weight

  Familiarity information: REDUCE used as a verb is very familiar.

 Dictionary entry details 

• REDUCE (verb)

Conjugation:

Sense 1

Meaning:

Cut down on; make a reduction in

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

bring down; cut; cut back; cut down; reduce; trim; trim back; trim down

Context example:

The employer wants to cut back health benefits

Hypernyms (to "reduce" is one way to...):

decrease; lessen; minify (make smaller)

Verb group:

cut (have a reducing effect)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "reduce"):

shorten (make shorter than originally intended; reduce or retrench in length or duration)

knock off; shave (cut the price of)

subtract (take off or away)

downsize ((of a company) reduce in size or number of employees)

inflate (increase the amount or availability of, creating a rise in value)

deflate (reduce or cut back the amount or availability of, creating a decline in value or prices)

detract; take away (take away a part from; diminish)

thin (make thin or thinner)

thin out (make sparse)

slash (cut drastically)

retrench (make a reduction, as in one's workforce)

quench (reduce the degree of (luminescence or phosphorescence) in (excited molecules or a material) by adding a suitable substance)

spill (reduce the pressure of wind on (a sail))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

reduction (the act of decreasing or reducing something)

reductive (characterized by or causing diminution or curtailment)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Make less complex

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Context example:

reduce a problem to a single question

Hypernyms (to "reduce" is one way to...):

simplify (make simpler or easier or reduce in complexity or extent)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "reduce"):

abbreviate (shorten)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

reducible (capable of being reduced)

reduction (the act of reducing complexity)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Bring to humbler or weaker state or condition

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Context example:

He reduced the population to slavery

Hypernyms (to "reduce" is one way to...):

break; bump; demote; kick downstairs; relegate (assign to a lower position; reduce in rank)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody to INFINITIVE

Sense 4

Meaning:

Simplify the form of a mathematical equation of expression by substituting one term for another

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "reduce" is one way to...):

exchange; interchange; replace; substitute (put in the place of another; switch seemingly equivalent items)

Domain category:

math; mathematics; maths (a science (or group of related sciences) dealing with the logic of quantity and shape and arrangement)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

reducible (capable of being reduced)

Sense 5

Meaning:

Lower in grade or rank or force somebody into an undignified situation

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

Context example:

She reduced her niece to a servant

Hypernyms (to "reduce" is one way to...):

degrade; demean; disgrace; put down; take down (reduce in worth or character, usually verbally)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something PP

Sense 6

Meaning:

Be the essential element

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

boil down; come down; reduce

Context example:

The proposal boils down to a compromise

Hypernyms (to "reduce" is one way to...):

become; turn (undergo a change or development)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Derivation:

reducible (capable of being reduced)

Sense 7

Meaning:

Reduce in size; reduce physically

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

reduce; shrink

Context example:

Can you shrink this image?

Hypernyms (to "reduce" is one way to...):

decrease; lessen; minify (make smaller)

Cause:

contract; shrink (become smaller or draw together)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "reduce"):

reduce; scale down (make smaller)

reef (reduce (a sail) by taking in a reef)

miniaturise; miniaturize (design or construct on a smaller scale)

depopulate; desolate (reduce in population)

downsize (design or manufacture in a smaller size)

contract (make smaller)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

reduction (the act of decreasing or reducing something)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Lessen and make more modest

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Context example:

reduce one's standard of living

Hypernyms (to "reduce" is one way to...):

impoverish (make poor)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sense 9

Meaning:

Make smaller

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

reduce; scale down

Context example:

reduce an image

Hypernyms (to "reduce" is one way to...):

reduce; shrink (reduce in size; reduce physically)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Antonym:

blow up (make large)

Derivation:

reducible (capable of being reduced)

reduction (the act of decreasing or reducing something)

Sense 10

Meaning:

To remove oxygen from a compound, or cause to react with hydrogen or form a hydride, or to undergo an increase in the number of electrons

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

deoxidise; deoxidize; reduce

Hypernyms (to "reduce" is one way to...):

change (undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature)

Domain category:

chemical science; chemistry (the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "reduce"):

benficiate (subject to a reduction process)

pole (deoxidize molten metals by stirring them with a wooden pole)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

reducer (a substance capable of bringing about the reduction of another substance as it itself is oxidized; used in photography to lessen the density of a negative or print by oxidizing some of the loose silver)

reducing (any process in which electrons are added to an atom or ion (as by removing oxygen or adding hydrogen); always occurs accompanied by oxidation of the reducing agent)

reductant (a substance capable of bringing about the reduction of another substance as it itself is oxidized; used in photography to lessen the density of a negative or print by oxidizing some of the loose silver)

Sense 11

Meaning:

Narrow or limit

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

reduce; tighten

Context example:

reduce the influx of foreigners

Hypernyms (to "reduce" is one way to...):

bound; confine; limit; restrict; throttle; trammel (place limits on (extent or amount or access))

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 12

Meaning:

Put down by force or intimidation

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

keep down; quash; reduce; repress; subdue; subjugate

Context example:

The rich landowners subjugated the peasants working the land

Hypernyms (to "reduce" is one way to...):

crush; oppress; suppress (come down on or keep down by unjust use of one's authority)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Sense 13

Meaning:

Undergo meiosis

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Context example:

The cells reduce

Hypernyms (to "reduce" is one way to...):

divide; part; separate (come apart)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 14

Meaning:

Reposition (a broken bone after surgery) back to its normal site

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "reduce" is one way to...):

reposition (place into another position)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 15

Meaning:

Destress and thus weaken a sound when pronouncing it

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "reduce" is one way to...):

de-emphasise; de-emphasize; destress (reduce the emphasis)

Domain category:

linguistics (the scientific study of language)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "reduce"):

obscure (reduce a vowel to a neutral one, such as a schwa)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 16

Meaning:

Reduce in scope while retaining essential elements

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

abbreviate; abridge; contract; cut; foreshorten; reduce; shorten

Context example:

The manuscript must be shortened

Hypernyms (to "reduce" is one way to...):

decrease; lessen; minify (make smaller)

Verb group:

cut; edit; edit out (cut and assemble the components of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "reduce"):

bowdlerise; bowdlerize; castrate; expurgate; shorten (edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate)

concentrate; condense; digest (make more concise)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 17

Meaning:

Be cooked until very little liquid is left

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

boil down; concentrate; decoct; reduce

Context example:

The sauce should reduce to one cup

Hypernyms (to "reduce" is one way to...):

decrease; diminish; fall; lessen (decrease in size, extent, or range)

Domain category:

cookery; cooking; preparation (the act of preparing something (as food) by the application of heat)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 18

Meaning:

Cook until very little liquid is left

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

boil down; concentrate; reduce

Context example:

The cook reduced the sauce by boiling it for a long time

Hypernyms (to "reduce" is one way to...):

decrease; lessen; minify (make smaller)

Domain category:

cookery; cooking; preparation (the act of preparing something (as food) by the application of heat)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 19

Meaning:

Lessen the strength or flavor of a solution or mixture

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

cut; dilute; reduce; thin; thin out

Context example:

cut bourbon

Hypernyms (to "reduce" is one way to...):

weaken (lessen the strength of)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "reduce"):

water down (make less strong or intense)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 20

Meaning:

Take off weight

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

melt off; reduce; slenderize; slim; slim down; thin

Hypernyms (to "reduce" is one way to...):

change state; turn (undergo a transformation or a change of position or action)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "reduce"):

sweat off (lose weight by sweating)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Antonym:

gain (increase (one's body weight))

Derivation:

reducing (loss of excess weight (as by dieting); becoming slimmer)

 Context examples 

Could blocking IELs reduce their risks?

(Some gut cells slow down metabolism, accelerate cardiovascular disease, National Institutes of Health)

To reduce the risk of reactions and make sure that you get better, it is important for you to take your medicines correctly and be careful when giving medicines to children.

(Medicines, NIH)

This agent also reduces disulfide bonds in mucoproteins, resulting in liquification of mucus.

(Acetylcysteine, NCI Thesaurus)

Does he think to reduce me by long absence?

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Her kind, compassionate visits to this old schoolfellow, sick and reduced, seemed to have quite delighted Mr Elliot.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

Most HBV carriers are not indicated for antiviral therapy, so another effective way of reducing liver cancer risk needs to be developed.

(An Aspirin A Day Keep Liver Cancer Away, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

It was not splintered by the shock, but entirely reduced to thin ribbons of wood.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

Wickham of course wanted more than he could get; but at length was reduced to be reasonable.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

A drug usually used to reduce the thickness of mucus and ease its removal.

(Acetylcysteine, NCI Dictionary)

I had quite lost my stomach, and was almost reduced to a skeleton.

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)