Etymology : Middle English, to lead back, from Latin reducere, from re- + ducere to lead; more at TOW
Pronunciation : ri-düs, -dyüs
Function : verb
Date : 14th century
1. lessen, diminish, decrease. reduce\re*duce"\ (r&esl;*dūs"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. reduced (-dūst"),; p. pr. & vb. n. reducing (-dū"s&ibreve;ng).] [l. reducere, reductum; pref. red-. re-, re- + ducere to lead. see:
duke, and cf. redoubt, n.].
2. to bring or lead back to any former place or condition. [obs.] and to his brother's house reduced his wife. the sheep must of necessity be scattered, unless the great shephered of souls oppose, or some of his delegates reduce and direct us.
3. to bring to any inferior state, with respect to rank, size, quantity, quality, value, etc.; to diminish; to lower; to degrade; to impair; as, to reduce a sergeant to the ranks; to reduce a drawing; to reduce expenses; to reduce the intensity of heat. "an ancient but reduced family." w. scott. nothing so excellent but a man may fasten upon something belonging to it, to reduce it. having reduced their foe to misery beneath their fears. hester prynne was shocked at the condition to which she found the clergyman reduced.
4. to bring to terms; to humble; to conquer; to subdue; to capture; as, to reduce a province or a fort.
5. to bring to a certain state or condition by grinding, pounding, kneading, rubbing, etc.; as, to reduce a substance to powder, or to a pasty mass; to reduce fruit, wood, or paper rags, to pulp. it were but right and equal to reduce me to my dust.
6. to bring into a certain order, arrangement, classification, etc.; to bring under rules or within certain limits of descriptions and terms adapted to use in computation; as, to reduce animals or vegetables to a class or classes; to reduce a series of observations in astronomy; to reduce language to rules.
7. (arith.) (a) to change, as numbers, from one denomination into another without altering their value, or from one denomination into others of the same value; as, to reduce pounds, shillings, and pence to pence, or to reduce pence to pounds; to reduce days and hours to minutes, or minutes to days and hours. (b) to change the form of a quantity or expression without altering its value; as, to reduce fractions to their lowest terms, to a common denominator, etc.
8. (chem.) to bring to the metallic state by separating from impurities; hence, in general, to remove oxygen from; to deoxidize; to combine with, or to subject to the action of, hydrogen; as, ferric iron is reduced to ferrous iron; or metals are reduced from their ores; -- opposed to oxidize.
9. (med.) to restore to its proper place or condition, as a displaced organ or part; as, to reduce a dislocation, a fracture, or a hernia.
10. To bring or lead back to any former place or condition.
11. To bring to any inferior state, with respect to rank, size, quantity, quality, value, etc.; to diminish; to lower; to degrade; to impair; as, to reduce a sergeant to the ranks; to reduce a drawing; to reduce expenses; to reduce the intensity of heat.
12. To bring to terms; to humble; to conquer; to subdue; to capture; as, to reduce a province or a fort.
13. To bring to a certain state or condition by grinding, pounding, kneading, rubbing, etc.; as, to reduce a substance to powder, or to a pasty mass; to reduce fruit, wood, or paper rags, to pulp.
14. To bring into a certain order, arrangement, classification, etc.; to bring under rules or within certain limits of descriptions and terms adapted to use in computation; as, to reduce animals or vegetables to a class or classes; to reduce a series of observations in astronomy; to reduce language to rules.
15. To change, as numbers, from one denomination into another without altering their value, or from one denomination into others of the same value; as, to reduce pounds, shillings, and pence to pence, or to reduce pence to pounds; to reduce days and hours to minutes, or minutes to days and hours.
16. To change the form of a quantity or expression without altering its value; as, to reduce fractions to their lowest terms, to a common denominator, etc.
17. To bring to the metallic state by separating from impurities; hence, in general, to remove oxygen from; to deoxidize; to combine with, or to subject to the action of, hydrogen; as, ferric iron is reduced to ferrous iron; or metals are reduced from their ores; opposed to oxidize.
18. To restore to its proper place or condition, as a displaced organ or part; as, to reduce a dislocation, a fracture, or a hernia. take off weight narrow or limit; "reduce the influx of foreigners" cook until very little liquid is left; "The cook reduced the sauce by boiling it for a long time" be the essential element; "The proposal boils down to a compromise" make smaller; "reduce an image" make less complex; "reduce a problem to a single question" cut down on; make a reduction in; "reduce your daily fat intake"; "The employer wants to cut back health benefits" reposition back to its normal site undergo meiosis; "The cells reduce" lower in grade or rank or force somebody into an undignified situation; "She reduced her niece to a servant" simplify the form of a mathematical equation of expression by substituting one term for another lessen and make more modest; "reduce one's standard of living" bring to humbler or weaker state or condition; "He reduced the population to slavery".
19. 1. If you reduce something, you make it smaller in size or amount, or less in degree. It reduces the risks of heart disease The reduced consumer demand is also affecting company profits. ¡Ù increase.
20. If someone is reduced to a weaker or inferior state, they become weaker or inferior as a result of something that happens to them. They were reduced to extreme poverty.
21. If you say that someone is reduced to doing something, you mean that they have to do it, although it is unpleasant or embarrassing. He was reduced to begging for a living.
22. If something is changed to a different or less complicated form, you can say that it is reduced to that form. All the buildings in the town have been reduced to rubble.
23. If you reduce liquid when you are cooking, or if it reduces, it is boiled in order to make it less in quantity and thicker. Boil the liquid in a small saucepan to reduce it by half Simmer until mixture reduces.
24. If someone or something reduces you to tears, they make you feel so unhappy that you cry. The attentions of the media reduced her to tears.
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