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to bring down to a smaller extent, size, amount, number, etc.:
to reduce one’s weight by 10 pounds.
to lower in degree, intensity, etc.:
to reduce the speed of a car.
to bring down to a lower rank, dignity, etc.: a sergeant reduced to a corporal.
to treat analytically, as a complex idea.
to lower in price.
to bring to a certain state, condition, arrangement, etc.:
to reduce glass to powder.
to bring under control or authority.
Cookery. to evaporate water from (a sauce, soup, or other liquid), usually by boiling.
Photography. to lessen the density of (an exposed negative).
to adjust or correct by making allowances, as an astronomical observation.
Mathematics. to change the denomination or form, but not the value, of (a fraction, polynomial, etc.).
Chemistry.

to add electrons to.
to deoxidize.
to add hydrogen to.
to change (a compound) so that the valence of the positive element is lower.

Chemistry, Metallurgy. to bring into the metallic state by separating from nonmetallic constituents.
to thin or dilute:
to reduce paint with oil or turpentine.
to lower the alcoholic concentration of (spirits) by diluting with water.
Surgery. to restore to the normal place, relation, or condition, as a fractured bone.
Phonetics. to modify the quality of (a speech sound) to one of lesser distinctiveness, especially to pronounce (an unstressed vowel) as (ə) or another centralized vowel, as in the unstressed syllables of medicinal.
to become reduced.
to become lessened, especially in weight.
to be turned into or made to equal something:
All our difficulties reduce to financial problems.
Cell Biology. to undergo meiosis.
Contemporary Examples

To keep tax rates lower and remain competitive, they would have to consider ways to reduce spending.
Not All Deductions Are Created Equal Justin Green December 2, 2012

What would you do to reduce the power and influence of corporations and Wall Street?
Michael Medved Crafts Tough Questions for the Presidential Debates Michael Medved September 14, 2012

In 2003, he won and quickly set about to reduce crime by investing the most money in the poorest neighborhoods.
10 Inspiring Summit Stories Jacob Bernstein October 23, 2010

Whisk in the flour and reduce to sauce consistency, skimming occasionally and adding more stock as necessary.
5 Healthy Spa Meals Ratha Tep January 12, 2011

More severity, it turns out, does not reduce crime, and might even increase it.
Norway Did the Right Thing by Giving Breivik 21-Year Sentence David R. Dow August 26, 2012

Historical Examples

But still the numbers were too large: what was the second plan to reduce them?
Heroes of Israel Theodore Gerald Soares

My plan was to reduce each man’s ration of flower from 7lbs.
Journal of an Expedition into the Interior of Tropical Australia Thomas Mitchell

Mr. Wilson wished for a commitment in order to reduce the proportion of votes required.
The Journal of Negro History, Volume 3, 1918 Various

“While you’re reducing the size of it you might also reduce the pain in it,” said Dick.
The Rock of Chickamauga Joseph A. Altsheler

It was necessary to reduce the rent in some way in order to permit the villains to live.
The Enclosures in England Harriett Bradley

verb (mainly transitive)
(also intransitive) to make or become smaller in size, number, extent, degree, intensity, etc
to bring into a certain state, condition, etc: to reduce a forest to ashes, to reduce someone to despair
(also intransitive) to make or become slimmer; lose or cause to lose excess weight
to impoverish (esp in the phrase in reduced circumstances)
to bring into a state of submission to one’s authority; subjugate: the whole country was reduced after three months
to bring down the price of (a commodity): the shirt was reduced in the sale
to lower the rank or status of; demote: he was reduced from corporal to private, reduced to the ranks
to set out systematically as an aid to understanding; simplify: his theories have been reduced in a popular treatise
(maths) to modify or simplify the form of (an expression or equation), esp by substitution of one term by another
(cookery) to make (a sauce, stock, etc) more concentrated by boiling away some of the water in it
to thin out (paint) by adding oil, turpentine, etc; dilute
(also intransitive) (chem)

to undergo or cause to undergo a chemical reaction with hydrogen or formation of a hydride
to lose or cause to lose oxygen atoms
to undergo or cause to undergo an increase in the number of electrons Compare oxidize

(photog) to lessen the density of (a negative or print) by converting some of the blackened silver in the emulsion to soluble silver compounds by an oxidation process using a photographic reducer
(surgery) to manipulate or reposition (a broken or displaced bone, organ, or part) back to its normal site
(also intransitive) (biology) to undergo or cause to undergo meiosis
v.

late 14c., “bring back,” from Old French reducer (14c.), from Latin reducere “lead back, bring back,” figuratively “restore, replace,” from re- “back” (see re-) + ducere “bring, lead” (see duke (n.)). Meaning “bring to an inferior condition” is 1570s; that of “bring to a lower rank” is 1640s (military reduce to ranks is from 1802); that of “subdue by force of arms” is 1610s. Sense of “to lower, diminish, lessen” is from 1787. Related: Reduced; reducing.

reduce re·duce (rĭ-dōōs’, -dyōōs’)
v. re·duced, re·duc·ing, re·duc·es

To bring down, as in extent, amount, or degree; diminish.

To lose weight, as by dieting.

To restore a fractured or displaced body part to a normal condition or position.

To decrease the valence of an atom by adding electrons.

To remove oxygen from a compound.

To add hydrogen to a compound.

re·duc’er n.
re·duc’i·bil’i·ty n.
re·duc’i·ble adj.
language, mathematics
A symbolic mathematics language with ALGOL-like syntax, written in Lisp by Anthony Hearn in 1963.
Reduce 2 is a version based on Portable Standard LISP.
(http://rrz.uni-koeln.de/REDUCE/).
E-mail: .
Server: [email protected].
[“REDUCE, Software for Algebraic Computation”, G. Rayna, Springer 1987].
(1994-10-31)