Library / English Dictionary

REDUCE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 I. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Take off weight

Synonyms:

melt off; reduce; slenderize; slim; slim down; thin

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

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)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Lessen the strength or flavor of a solution or mixture

Example:

cut bourbon

Synonyms:

cut; dilute; reduce; thin; thin out

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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 3

Meaning:

Narrow or limit

Example:

reduce the influx of foreigners

Synonyms:

reduce; tighten

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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 4

Meaning:

Cook until very little liquid is left

Example:

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

Synonyms:

boil down; concentrate; reduce

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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 5

Meaning:

Be cooked until very little liquid is left

Example:

The sauce should reduce to one cup

Synonyms:

boil down; concentrate; decoct; reduce

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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 6

Meaning:

Be the essential element

Example:

The proposal boils down to a compromise

Synonyms:

boil down; come down; reduce

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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:

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:

deoxidise; deoxidize; reduce

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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 8

Meaning:

Make smaller

Example:

reduce an image

Synonyms:

reduce; scale down

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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 9

Meaning:

Reduce in size; reduce physically

Example:

Can you shrink this image?

Synonyms:

reduce; shrink

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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"):

contract (make smaller)

downsize (design or manufacture in a smaller size)

depopulate; desolate (reduce in population)

miniaturise; miniaturize (design or construct on a smaller scale)

reef (reduce (a sail) by taking in a reef)

reduce; scale down (make smaller)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Derivation:

reduction (the act of decreasing or reducing something)

Sense 10

Meaning:

Make less complex

Example:

reduce a problem to a single question

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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 11

Meaning:

Reduce in scope while retaining essential elements

Example:

The manuscript must be shortened

Synonyms:

abbreviate; abridge; contract; cut; foreshorten; reduce; shorten

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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 12

Meaning:

Cut down on; make a reduction in

Example:

The employer wants to cut back health benefits

Synonyms:

bring down; cut; cut back; cut down; reduce; trim; trim back; trim down

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

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"):

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))

shorten (make shorter than originally intended; reduce or retrench in length or duration)

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 13

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 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:

Undergo meiosis

Example:

The cells reduce

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "reduce" is one way to...):

divide; part; separate (come apart)

Sentence frame:

Something ----s

Sense 16

Meaning:

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

Example:

She reduced her niece to a servant

Classified under:

Verbs of feeling

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 17

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 18

Meaning:

Lessen and make more modest

Example:

reduce one's standard of living

Classified under:

Verbs of buying, selling, owning

Hypernyms (to "reduce" is one way to...):

impoverish (make poor)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Sense 19

Meaning:

Bring to humbler or weaker state or condition

Example:

He reduced the population to slavery

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

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 20

Meaning:

Put down by force or intimidation

Example:

The rich landowners subjugated the peasants working the land

Synonyms:

keep down; quash; reduce; repress; subdue; subjugate

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

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

Credits

 Context examples: 

“If a person were to get up, take 10 steps, and sit down again, it appears that the effects of a sedentary lifestyle would be greatly reduced.

(Spending more time standing helps increase energy expenditure and combats the effects of a sedentary lifestyle, University of Granada)

When the grey cub came back to life and again took interest in the far white wall, he found that the population of his world had been reduced.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

Research has shown that acupuncture reduces nausea and vomiting after surgery and chemotherapy.

(Acupuncture, NIH: National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine)

Further experiments showed that transmissible RNA was able to activate a mechanism called 'RNA interference' to block the activity of some genes and reduce the production of certain honey bee proteins.

(Discovery of RNA transfer through royal jelly could aid development of honey bee vaccines, University of Cambridge)

Duodenal expression of multidrug resistance protein 1 is also significantly reduced in individuals that have a homozygous phenotype for this allele.

(ABCB1 2 Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

Acetazolamide reduces the concentration of bicarbonate, resulting in a decreased synthesis of aqueous humor in the eye, thereby lowering intraocular pressure.

(Acetazolamide, NCI Thesaurus)

Reduced bicarbonate level in circulation induces reduction of intraocular pressure via osmotic mechanism.

(Acetazolamide Sodium, NCI Thesaurus)

A drug that reduces pain and fever (but not inflammation).

(Acetaminophen, NCI Dictionary)

This agent also disrupts tumor neovascularization, reducing tumor blood flow and so inducing a cytotoxic effect.

(ABT-751, NCI Thesaurus)

The study found folic acid alone and B-vitamins with folic acid may reduce cardiovascular disease and stroke.

(Most Popular Supplements Provide No Health Benefit, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)