reduce

Definitions

1. 1noun

   To bring or lead back to any former place or condition.

2. 2noun

   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.

3. 3noun

   To bring to terms; to humble; to conquer; to subdue; to capture; as, to reduce a province or a fort.

4. 4noun

   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.

5. 5noun

   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.

6. 6noun

   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.

7. 7noun

   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. 8noun

   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. 9noun

   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. 10verb

    take off weight

    Synonyms

    slenderizeslimthin
11. 11verb

    lessen the strength or flavor of a solution or mixture

    "cut bourbon"

    Synonyms

    cutdilutethin
12. 12verb

    narrow or limit

    "reduce the influx of foreigners"

    Synonyms

    tighten
13. 13verb

    cook until very little liquid is left

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

    Synonyms

    concentrate
14. 14verb

    be cooked until very little liquid is left

    "The sauce should reduce to one cup"

    Synonyms

    concentratedecoct
15. 15verb

    be the essential element

    "The proposal boils down to a compromise"

16. 16verb

    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

    Synonyms

    deoxidisedeoxidize
17. 17verb

    make smaller

    "reduce an image"

18. 18verb

    reduce in size; reduce physically

    "Hot water will shrink the sweater"

    "Can you shrink this image?"

    Synonyms

    shrink
19. 19verb

    make less complex

    "reduce a problem to a single question"

20. 20verb

    reduce in scope while retaining essential elements

    "The manuscript must be shortened"

    Synonyms

    abbreviateabridgecontractcutforeshortenshorten
21. 21verb

    cut down on; make a reduction in

    "reduce your daily fat intake"

    "The employer wants to cut back health benefits"

    Synonyms

    cuttrim
22. 22verb

    destress and thus weaken a sound when pronouncing it

23. 23verb

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

24. 24verb

    undergo meiosis

    "The cells reduce"

25. 25verb

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

    "She reduced her niece to a servant"

26. 26verb

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

27. 27verb

    lessen and make more modest

    "reduce one's standard of living"

28. 28verb

    bring to humbler or weaker state or condition

    "He reduced the population to slavery"

29. 29verb

    put down by force or intimidation

    "The government quashes any attempt of an uprising"

    "China keeps down her dissidents very efficiently"

    Synonyms

    quashrepresssubduesubjugate