reduce
Other forms: reduced; reducing; reduces
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.
The word reduce first appeared in Old French during the 14th Century, when it meant "bring back." From the Latin re, which meant "back," coupled with ducere, meaning "bring or lead" — we ended up with reduce. The current meaning, "to lessen," appeared in the late 1700's, drawn from the word's military use, "reduce to ranks," which meant break into smaller units. Cooks use the word reduce when they reduce a liquid, boiling it down until it has less volume and is thicker.
Definitions of reduce
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make smaller“reduce an image”
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synonyms:
scale down
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reduce in size; reduce physically
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synonyms:
shrink
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types:
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scale down
make smaller
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reef
reduce (a sail) by taking in a reef
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miniaturise, miniaturize
design or construct on a smaller scale
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depopulate, desolate
reduce in population
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downsize
make in a smaller size
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contract
make smaller
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purse, wrinkle
gather or contract into wrinkles or folds; pucker
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take off weight
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synonyms:
lose weight, melt off, slenderize, slim, slim down, thin
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types:
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sweat off
lose weight by sweating
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type of:
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change state, turn
undergo a transformation or a change of position or action
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sweat off
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cut down on; make a reduction in“reduce your daily fat intake”
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cut
have a reducing effect
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types:
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shorten
make shorter than originally intended; reduce or retrench in length or duration
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spill
reduce the pressure of wind on (a sail)
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quench
reduce the degree of (luminescence or phosphorescence) in (excited molecules or a material) by adding a suitable substance
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retrench
make a reduction, as in one's workforce
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slash
cut drastically
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thin out
make sparse
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thin
make thin or thinner
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detract, take away
take away a part from; diminish
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deflate
reduce or cut back the amount or availability of, creating a decline in value or prices
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inflate
increase the amount or availability of, creating a rise in value
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downsize
reduce in size or number
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subtract
take off or away
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knock off, shave
cut the price of
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foreshorten
shorten lines in a drawing so as to create an illusion of depth
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clip, curtail, cut short
terminate or abbreviate before its intended or proper end or its full extent
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syncopate
omit a sound or letter in a word
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cut short, truncate
make shorter as if by cutting off
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draw
reduce the diameter of (a wire or metal rod) by pulling it through a die
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clip, crop, cut back, dress, lop, prune, snip, trim
cultivate, tend, and cut back the growth of
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mark down
reduce the price of
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cut
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narrow or limit
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reduce in scope while retaining essential elements
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synonyms:
abbreviate, abridge, contract, cut, foreshorten, shorten
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Antonyms:
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dilate, elaborate, enlarge, expand, expatiate, exposit, expound, flesh out, lucubrate
add details, as to an account or idea; clarify the meaning of and discourse in a learned way, usually in writing
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types:
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bowdlerise, bowdlerize, castrate, expurgate, shorten
edit by omitting or modifying parts considered indelicate
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concentrate, condense, digest
make more concise
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capsule, capsulise, capsulize, encapsulate
put in a short or concise form; reduce in volume
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telescope
make smaller or shorter
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dilate, elaborate, enlarge, expand, expatiate, exposit, expound, flesh out, lucubrate
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lessen and make more modest“reduce one's standard of living”
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type of:
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impoverish
make poor
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impoverish
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destress and thus weaken a sound when pronouncing it
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types:
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obscure
reduce a vowel to a neutral one, such as a schwa
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type of:
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de-emphasise, de-emphasize, destress
reduce the emphasis
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obscure
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lessen the strength or flavor of a solution or mixture
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make less complex“reduce a problem to a single question”
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types:
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abbreviate
shorten
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type of:
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simplify
make simpler or easier or reduce in complexity or extent
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abbreviate
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be the essential element
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simplify the form of a mathematical equation of expression by substituting one term for another
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synonyms:
simplify
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type of:
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exchange, interchange, replace, substitute
put in the place of another; switch seemingly equivalent items
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exchange, interchange, replace, substitute
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bring to humbler or weaker state or condition“He reduced the population to slavery”
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type of:
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break, bump, demote, kick downstairs, relegate
assign to a lower position; reduce in rank
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break, bump, demote, kick downstairs, relegate
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lower in grade or rank or force somebody into an undignified situation
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put down by force or intimidation
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cook until very little liquid is left“The cook reduced the sauce by boiling it for a long time”
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synonyms:
boil down, concentrate
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be cooked until very little liquid is left
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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
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Antonyms:
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oxidate, oxidise, oxidize
add oxygen to or combine with oxygen
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oxidate, oxidise, oxidize
enter into a combination with oxygen or become converted into an oxide
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rust
become coated with oxide
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types:
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benficiate
subject to a reduction process
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pole
deoxidize molten metals by stirring them with a wooden pole
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type of:
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change
undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one's or its original nature
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oxidate, oxidise, oxidize
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undergo meiosis
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reposition (a broken bone after surgery) back to its normal site
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type of:
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reposition
place into another position
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reposition
Pronunciation
US
/rɪˈdus/
UK
/rəˈdus/
DISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘reduce'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
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