Dictionary Definition
reduce
Verb
1 cut down on; make a reduction in; "reduce your
daily fat intake"; "The employer wants to cut back health benefits"
[syn: cut
down, cut back,
trim, trim down,
trim
back, cut, bring
down]
2 make less complex; "reduce a problem to a
single question"
3 bring to humbler or weaker state or condition;
"He reduced the population to slavery"
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; "She reduced her niece to a
servant"
7 reduce in size; reduce physically; "Hot water
will shrink the sweater"; "Can you shrink this image?" [syn:
shrink]
8 lessen and make more modest; "reduce one's
standard of living"
9 make smaller; "reduce an image" [syn: scale down]
[ant: blow
up]
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 [syn: deoxidize, deoxidise] [ant: oxidize, oxidize]
11 narrow or limit; "reduce the influx of
foreigners" [syn: tighten]
12 put down by force or intimidation; "The
government quashes any attempt of an uprising"; "China keeps down
her dissidents very efficiently"; "The rich landowners subjugated
the peasants working the land" [syn: repress, quash, keep down,
subdue, subjugate]
13 undergo meiosis; "The cells reduce"
14 reposition (a broken bone after surgery) back
to its normal site
15 reduce in scope while retaining essential
elements; "The manuscript must be shortened" [syn: abridge, foreshorten, abbreviate, shorten, cut, contract] [ant: elaborate]
16 be cooked until very little liquid is left;
"The sauce should reduce to one cup" [syn: boil down,
decoct, concentrate]
17 cook until very little liquid is left; "The
cook reduced the sauce by boiling it for a long time" [syn:
boil
down, concentrate]
18 lessen the strength or flavor of a solution or
mixture; "cut bourbon" [syn: dilute, thin, thin out,
cut]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Etymology
reducere, reductum; prefix red-. From re- + ducere. See duke, and compare with redoubt.Verb
- To bring down the size, quantity, value or intensity of
something; to diminish,
to lower, to impair.
- to reduce weight, speed, heat, expenses, price, personnel etc.
- To lose weight.
- To bring to an inferior rank; to degrade, to demote.
- to reduce a sergeant to the ranks
- An ancient but reduced family. --Sir W. Scott.
- Nothing so excellent but a man may fasten upon something belonging to it, to reduce it. --Tillotson.
- Having reduced their foe to misery beneath their fears. --Milton.
- Hester Prynne was shocked at the condition to which she found the clergyman reduced. --Hawthorne.
- To humble; to
conquer; to subdue; to capture.
- to reduce a province or a fort
- To bring to an inferior state or condition.
- to reduce a city to ashes
- In the context of "transitive|cooking": To decrease the liquid content of food by boiling much of its water off.
- In the context of "transitive|chemistry": To add electrons to or remove hydrogen.
- In the context of "transitive|metallurgy": To produce metal from ore by removing nonmetallic elements in a smelter.
- In the context of "transitive|math": To simplify an equation or formula without changing its value.
Translations
to lose weight
- Finnish: laihtua
- Japanese: 減る
to bring to an inferior rank
- Finnish: alentaa
- Hungarian: csökkent
- Japanese: 下げる, 切り詰める
to bring to terms; to humble; to conquer; to
subdue; to capture
- Finnish: alistaa, kukistaa
- Hungarian: leigáz, lever
- Japanese: 降伏, 鎮圧
to bring to an inferior state or condition
- Finnish: muuttaa
- Japanese: 強いる
to decrease the liquid in food
- Finnish: keittää kokoon
- Hungarian: besűrít
- Japanese: 煮詰める
chemistry: to add electrons to or remove
hydrogen
- Finnish: pelkistää
- Japanese: 還元
metallurgy: to remove non-metals from metal
- Finnish: pelkistää
- Japanese: qualifier phrase 不純物を取り除く
math: to simplify a formula
- Finnish: sieventää
- Japanese: 簡約, 約分
- ttbc Arabic:
- ttbc Chinese: 减少 (jiǎnshǎo), 减小 (jiǎnxiǎo)
- ttbc Dutch: verminderen, reduceren
- ttbc French: diminuer, réduire
- ttbc German: vermindern, reduzieren
- ttbc Italian: ridurre
- ttbc Korean: 빼다 (bbaeda), 줄이다 (julida), 감소 (gamso)
- ttbc Portuguese: reduzir
- ttbc Russian: понижать (ponižát’)
- ttbc Spanish: mermar, reducir, disminuir, rebajar
- ttbc Swedish: reducera
See also
References
1913}}Romanian
Etymology
Extensive Definition
}}
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abrade, abridge, abstract, acetify, acidify, acidulate, adjust, adjust to, adulterate, afflict, alkalify, alkalize, allay, alleviate, allow, alter, analyze, anatomize, anesthetize, appease, apportion, assay, assimilate to, assuage, attemper, attenuate, bank the fire,
bankrupt, baptize, bate, bear down, beat down,
become, beggar, belittle, bend, benumb, blunt, bob, boil down, borate, box in, break, break down, break up, bring
down, bring low, bring to, bring to terms, bump, bust, capsulize, carbonate, catalyze, change, change into, change over,
charge off, chasten,
cheapen, chemical, chlorinate, circumscribe, clip, coarct, compact, compress, concentrate, condense, condition, conquer, consolidate, constrain, constrict, constringe, contract, control, convert, couch, count, count calories, cramp, cripple, crop, crush, curtail, cushion, cut, cut back, cut down, cut off
short, cut prices, cut short, damp, dampen, de-emphasize, deaden, deaden the pain, debase, debilitate, decline, decrease, deduct, deflate, degrade, demean, demote, deplume, depreciate, depress, derange, derogate, detract, detrude, devaluate, devitalize, diet, dilute, diminish, disable, discount, disgrade, disorder, disparage, displume, dissect, distill, dive, divide, do over, dock, downbear, downgrade, downplay, drain, draw, draw in, draw together,
drop, dull, dump, dump on, ease, ease matters, eat away,
electrolyze,
elide, enervate, enfeeble, epitomize, erode, eviscerate, exhaust, extenuate, extract, fall, fall in price, fell, ferment, file away, fix, flatten, foment, foreshorten, give relief,
give way, grind, gruel, haul down, hedge, hedge about, homopolymerize, hospitalize, humble, humiliate, hydrate, hydrogenate, hydroxylate, impair, impoverish, increase, indent, indispose, invalid, irrigate, isomerize, jew down, keep
within bounds, kick back, knit, knock down, lay, lay low, lay up, leach, leaven, lenify, lessen, let down, let up on,
lighten, limit, lose flesh, lose weight,
lower, lull, make, make allowance, make over,
mark down, master,
measure, minimize, mitigate, moderate, modify, modulate, mollify, mow, narrow, naturalize, nip, nitrate, nose-dive, numb, number, obtund, overmaster, override, oversimplify, overwhelm, oxidize, pad, palliate, parcel, pare, pauperize, pepsinate, peroxidize, phosphatize, play down,
plummet, plunge, poll, pollard, polymerize, poultice, pour balm into, pour
oil on, powder, press
down, prostrate,
prune, pucker, pucker up, pull down,
pulp, purify, purse, push down, put down,
qualify, quantify, quantize, quell, rarefy, rate, rattle, reap, rebate, recap, recapitulate, reconvert, reduce the
temperature, reduce to, reduce to elements, reduce weight, refine, refund, regulate by, relieve, remove, render, reset, resolve, resolve into, restrain, restrict, retrench, reverse, ride down, roll back,
rub, rub away, sag, salve, sap, scale down, season, segment, separate, set, set conditions, set down, set
limits, shake, shake up,
shave, shear, shift, shorten, sicken, simplify, sink, slacken, slake, slash, slenderize, slim, slim down, slow down,
slump, smash, smother, snub, sober, sober down, soften, soften up, solidify, soothe, step down, stifle, strangle, strangulate, streamline, strip down, strip
of rank, stunt, stupe, subdivide, subduct, subdue, subjugate, subtract, sulfate, sulfatize, sulfonate, sum up, summarize, suppress, switch, switch over, synopsize, take a premium,
take away, take down, take from, take in, take off, take off
weight, tame, telescope, temper, thin, thin down, thin out, thrust
down, tone down, trample down, trample underfoot, transform, tread underfoot,
trim, trip up, triturate, truncate, tune down, turn, turn back, turn into,
tyrannize, unbrace, undermine, underplay, unman, unnerve, unstrengthen, unstring, vanquish, water, water down, weaken, wear away, weed, weight-watch, withdraw, work, wrinkle, write
off