definition of reduce by The Free Dictionary


Verb 1. reduce - cut down onreduce – cut down on; make a reduction in; “reduce your daily fat intake”; “The employer wants to cut back health benefits”

shorten – make shorter than originally intended; reduce or retrench in length or duration; “He shortened his trip due to illness”
spill – reduce the pressure of wind on (a sail)
quench – reduce the degree of (luminescence or phosphorescence) in (excited molecules or a material) by adding a suitable substance
cut – have a reducing effect; “This cuts into my earnings”
retrench – make a reduction, as in one’s workforce; “The company had to retrench”
slash – cut drastically; “Prices were slashed”
thin out – make sparse; “thin out the young plants”
thin – make thin or thinner; “Thin the solution”
detract, take away – take away a part from; diminish; “His bad manners detract from his good character”
deflate – reduce or cut back the amount or availability of, creating a decline in value or prices; “deflate the currency”
inflate – increase the amount or availability of, creating a rise in value; “inflate the currency”
downsize – reduce in size or number; “the company downsized its research staff”
subtract – take off or away; “this prefix was subtracted when the word was borrowed from French”
2. reduce – make less complex; “reduce a problem to a single question”

abbreviate – shorten; “Abbreviate `New York’ and write `NY'”
simplify – make simpler or easier or reduce in complexity or extent; “We had to simplify the instructions”; “this move will simplify our lives”
3. reduce – bring to humbler or weaker state or condition; “He reduced the population to slavery” 4. reduce – simplify the form of a mathematical equation of expression by substituting one term for another

math, mathematics, maths – a science (or group of related sciences) dealing with the logic of quantity and shape and arrangement
interchange, substitute, replace, exchange – put in the place of another; switch seemingly equivalent items; “the con artist replaced the original with a fake Rembrandt”; “substitute regular milk with fat-free milk”; “synonyms can be interchanged without a changing the context’s meaning”
5. reduce – lower in grade or rank or force somebody into an undignified situation; “She reduced her niece to a servant”

demean, disgrace, degrade, take down, put down – reduce in worth or character, usually verbally; “She tends to put down younger women colleagues”; “His critics took him down after the lecture”
6. reduce – be the essential element; “The proposal boils down to a compromise”

become, turn – undergo a change or development; “The water turned into ice”; “Her former friend became her worst enemy”; “He turned traitor”
7. reduce – reduce in size; reduce physically; “Hot water will shrink the sweater”; “Can you shrink this image?”

reef – reduce (a sail) by taking in a reef
downsize – make in a smaller size; “the car makers downsized the SUVs when fuel became very expensive”
contract – make smaller; “The heat contracted the woollen garment”
8. reduce – lessen and make more modest; “reduce one’s standard of living” 9. reduce – make smaller; “reduce an image”

shrink, reduce – reduce in size; reduce physically; “Hot water will shrink the sweater”; “Can you shrink this image?”
10. reduce – 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

chemical science, chemistry – the science of matter; the branch of the natural sciences dealing with the composition of substances and their properties and reactions
change – undergo a change; become different in essence; losing one’s or its original nature; “She changed completely as she grew older”; “The weather changed last night”
benficiate – subject to a reduction process; “benficiate ores”
pole – deoxidize molten metals by stirring them with a wooden pole
11. reduce – narrow or limit; “reduce the influx of foreigners” 12. reduce – put down by force or intimidation; “The government quashes any attempt of an uprising”; “China keeps down her dissidents very efficiently”; “The rich landowners subjugated the peasants working the land”

crush, oppress, suppress – come down on or keep down by unjust use of one’s authority; “The government oppresses political activists”
13. reduce – undergo meiosis; “The cells reduce” 14. reduce – reposition (a broken bone after surgery) back to its normal site 15. reduce – destress and thus weaken a sound when pronouncing it

obscure – reduce a vowel to a neutral one, such as a schwa
16. reduce - reduce in scope while retaining essential elementsreduce – reduce in scope while retaining essential elements; “The manuscript must be shortened”

edit out, edit, cut – cut and assemble the components of; “edit film”; “cut recording tape”
17. reduce – be cooked until very little liquid is left; “The sauce should reduce to one cup”

cookery, cooking, preparation – the act of preparing something (as food) by the application of heat; “cooking can be a great art”; “people are needed who have experience in cookery”; “he left the preparation of meals to his wife”
decrease, diminish, lessen, fall – decrease in size, extent, or range; “The amount of homework decreased towards the end of the semester”; “The cabin pressure fell dramatically”; “her weight fell to under a hundred pounds”; “his voice fell to a whisper”
18. reduce – cook until very little liquid is left; “The cook reduced the sauce by boiling it for a long time”

cookery, cooking, preparation – the act of preparing something (as food) by the application of heat; “cooking can be a great art”; “people are needed who have experience in cookery”; “he left the preparation of meals to his wife”
19. reduce – lessen the strength or flavor of a solution or mixture; “cut bourbon”

weaken – lessen the strength of; “The fever weakened his body”
water down – make less strong or intense; “water down the mixture”
20. reduce - take off weightreduce – take off weight      

sweat off – lose weight by sweating; “I sweated off 3 pounds in the sauna”
change state, turn – undergo a transformation or a change of position or action; “We turned from Socialism to Capitalism”; “The people turned against the President when he stole the election”
gain, put on – increase (one’s body weight); “She gained 20 pounds when she stopped exercising”

Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.



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