Yahoo Canada Web Search

Search results

1. Dictionary

   reduce

   /rɪˈdjuːs/

   verb

   • 1. make smaller or less in amount, degree, or size: "the need for businesses to reduce costs" Similar lessenmake lessmake smallerlowerbring downdecreaseturn downdiminishtake the edge offminimizeshrinknarrowcontractshortenforeshortentruncatetapercloseabbreviatecondenseconcentrateabridgedepleteaxecutcut back/downmake cutbacks inscale downtrimslim (down)prunechopcurtaillimitmoderatelighteneasedilutemitigatecommutequalifyalleviaterelaxabateamortizemake cheaperlower the price oflower/cut in pricecheapencutmark downdiscountput on saleoffer at a giveaway priceinformal:slashknock downOpposite increaseenlargeput up
   • ▪ become smaller or less in size, amount, or degree: "the number of priority homeless cases has reduced slightly"
   • ▪ boil (a sauce or other liquid) in cooking so that it becomes thicker and more concentrated: "increase the heat and reduce the liquid"
   • ▪ (of a person) lose weight, typically by dieting: North American "by May she had reduced to 9 stone"
   • ▪ make (a negative or print) less dense.
   • ▪ articulate (a speech sound) in a way requiring less muscular effort, giving rise in vowels to a more central articulatory position.
   • 2. bring someone or something to (a worse or less desirable state or condition): "she has been reduced to near poverty" Similar bring tobring to the point offorce intodrive into
   • ▪ be forced by difficult circumstances into doing something desperate: "ordinary soldiers are reduced to begging"
   • ▪ make someone helpless with (shock, anguish, or amusement): "Olga was reduced to stunned silence"
   • ▪ force someone into (obedience or submission): "he reduced his grandees to due obedience" Similar bring tobring to the point offorce intodrive into
   • 3. change a substance to (a different or more basic form): "it is difficult to understand how lava could have been reduced to dust"
   • ▪ present a problem or subject in (a simplified form): "he reduces unimaginable statistics to manageable proportions"
   • ▪ convert a fraction to (the form with the lowest terms).
   • 4. cause to combine chemically with hydrogen: "hydrogen for reducing the carbon dioxide"
   • ▪ undergo or cause to undergo a reaction in which electrons are gained from another substance or molecule: "this compound reduces to potassium chloride"
   • 5. restore (a dislocated part of the body) to its proper position by manipulation or surgery: "Joe's reducing a dislocated thumb"
   • 6. besiege and capture (a town or fortress). archaic

   Word Origin late Middle English: from Latin reducere, from re- ‘back, again’ + ducere ‘bring, lead’. The original sense was ‘bring back’ (hence ‘restore’, now surviving in reduce (sense 5)); this led to ‘bring to a different state’, then ‘bring to a simpler or lower state’ (hence reduce (sense 3)); and finally ‘diminish in size or amount’ (reduce (sense 1), dating from the late 18th century).

   Derivatives

   • 1. reducer noun

   Scrabble Points: 9

   • R

     1

   • E

     1

   • D

     2

   • U

     1

   • C

     3

   • E

     1

   Powered by Oxford Dictionaries

   More definitions, origin and scrabble points

2. www.merriam-webster.com › dictionary › reduceReduce Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

   www.merriam-webster.com › dictionary › reduce

   • Cached

   The meaning of REDUCE is to draw together or cause to converge : consolidate. How to use reduce in a sentence. Synonym Discussion of Reduce.

3. dictionary.cambridge.org › dictionary › englishREDUCE | English meaning - Cambridge Dictionary

   dictionary.cambridge.org › dictionary › english

   • Cached

   to make something less in size, amount, degree, importance, or price: A low-fat diet can reduce the risk of heart disease. Grunn employs 17,900 people, but that number will be reduced by 500 workers. All electronic equipment in the store has been reduced (= lowered in price).

4. dictionary.cambridge.org › us › dictionaryREDUCE | definition in the Cambridge English Dictionary

   dictionary.cambridge.org › us › dictionary

   • Cached

   to make something less in size, amount, degree, importance, or price: A low-fat diet can reduce the risk of heart disease. Grunn employs 17,900 people, but that number will be reduced by 500 workers.

5. www.dictionary.com › browse › reduceREDUCE Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com

   www.dictionary.com › browse › reduce

   • Cached

   Reduce definition: to bring down to a smaller extent, size, amount, number, etc.. See examples of REDUCE used in a sentence.

6. www.vocabulary.com › dictionary › reduceReduce - Definition, Meaning & Synonyms | Vocabulary.com

   www.vocabulary.com › dictionary › reduce

   You reduce something when you lessen its volume, size, or degree. That's why we say when someone goes on a diet, it's because they want to reduce; it's a polite way of suggesting they need to drop pounds and become a smaller size.

7. www.collinsdictionary.com › dictionary › englishREDUCE definition and meaning | Collins English Dictionary

   www.collinsdictionary.com › dictionary › english

   • Cached

   verb(mainly tr) 1.(also intr) to make or become smaller in size, number, extent, degree, intensity, etc. 2. to bring into a certain state, condition, etc. to reduce a forest to ashes. to reduce someone to despair. 3.(also intr) to make or become slimmer; lose or cause to lose excess weight.

8. www.thefreedictionary.com › reduceReduce - definition of reduce by The Free Dictionary

   www.thefreedictionary.com › reduce

   • Cached

   1. to bring down to a smaller size, amount, price, etc. 2. to lower in degree, intensity, etc. 3. to demote to a lower rank. 4. to treat analytically, as a complex idea. 5. to act destructively upon (a substance or object): a house reduced to ashes. 6. to bring to a certain state: to reduce someone to tears.

9. dictionary.cambridge.org › dictionary › learner-englishREDUCE | meaning - Cambridge Learner's Dictionary

   dictionary.cambridge.org › dictionary › learner-english

   • Cached

   REDUCE definition: 1. to make something less: 2. to add one or more electrons to a substance or to remove oxygen from…. Learn more.

10. www.ldoceonline.com › dictionary › reducereduce | meaning of reduce in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary...

    www.ldoceonline.com › dictionary › reduce

    • Cached

    reduce meaning, definition, what is reduce: to make something smaller or less in siz...: Learn more.

11. www.collinsdictionary.com › dictionary › english-wordREDUCE - Find out everything about this English word | Collins

    www.collinsdictionary.com › dictionary › english-word

    • Cached

    All you need to know about "REDUCE" in one place: definitions, pronunciations, synonyms, grammar insights, collocations, examples, and translations.