English Dictionary |
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
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
7. reduce in size; reduce physically
8. lessen and make more modest
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
12. put down by force or intimidation
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
Familiarity information: REDUCE used as a verb is very familiar.
Dictionary entry details
Conjugation: |
Past simple: reduced
Past participle: reduced
-ing form: reducing
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:
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:
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)
Learn English with... Proverbs |
"Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their view and demand that they respect yours." (Native American proverbs and quotes, Chief Tecumseh)
"The ant shall never crawl on its knees." (Arabic proverb)
"Pulled too far, a rope ends up breaking." (Corsican proverb)