reduce
Americanverb (used with object)
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reduces,
present (3rd person singular)
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reduced,
past participle, past
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reducing
present participle
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to bring down to a smaller extent, size, amount, number, etc..
to reduce one's weight by 10 pounds.
- Synonyms:
- abate, attenuate, lessen, retrench, contract, curtail, abridge, shorten, decrease, diminish
- Antonyms:
- increase
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to lower in degree, intensity, etc..
to reduce the speed of a car.
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to bring down to a lower rank, dignity, etc..
a sergeant reduced to a corporal
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to treat analytically, as a complex idea.
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to lower in price.
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to bring to a certain state, condition, arrangement, etc..
to reduce glass to powder.
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to bring under control or authority.
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Cooking. to evaporate water from (a sauce, soup, or other liquid), usually by boiling.
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Photography. to lessen the density of (an exposed negative).
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to adjust or correct by making allowances, as an astronomical observation.
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Mathematics. to change the denomination or form, but not the value, of (a fraction, polynomial, etc.).
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Chemistry.
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to add electrons to.
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to deoxidize.
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to add hydrogen to.
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to change (a compound) so that the valence of the positive element is lower.
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Chemistry, Metallurgy. to bring into the metallic state by separating from nonmetallic constituents.
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to thin or dilute.
to reduce paint with oil or turpentine.
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to lower the alcoholic concentration of (spirits) by diluting with water.
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Surgery. to restore to the normal place, relation, or condition, as a fractured bone.
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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.
verb (used without object)
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reduces,
present (3rd person singular)
-
reduced,
past participle, past
-
reducing
present participle
-
to become reduced.
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to become lessened, especially in weight.
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to be turned into or made to equal something.
All our difficulties reduce to financial problems.
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Cell Biology. to undergo meiosis.
verb
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(also intr) to make or become smaller in size, number, extent, degree, intensity, etc
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to bring into a certain state, condition, etc
to reduce a forest to ashes
to reduce someone to despair
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(also intr) to make or become slimmer; lose or cause to lose excess weight
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to impoverish (esp in the phrase in reduced circumstances )
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to bring into a state of submission to one's authority; subjugate
the whole country was reduced after three months
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to bring down the price of (a commodity)
the shirt was reduced in the sale
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to lower the rank or status of; demote
he was reduced from corporal to private
reduced to the ranks
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to set out systematically as an aid to understanding; simplify
his theories have been reduced in a popular treatise
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maths to modify or simplify the form of (an expression or equation), esp by substitution of one term by another
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cookery to make (a sauce, stock, etc) more concentrated by boiling away some of the water in it
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to thin out (paint) by adding oil, turpentine, etc; dilute
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(also intr) chem
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to undergo or cause to undergo a chemical reaction with hydrogen or formation of a hydride
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to lose or cause to lose oxygen atoms
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to undergo or cause to undergo an increase in the number of electrons Compare oxidize
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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
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surgery to manipulate or reposition (a broken or displaced bone, organ, or part) back to its normal site
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(also intr) biology to undergo or cause to undergo meiosis
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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reducibilitynoun
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overreduceverb
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antireducingadjective
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nonreducingadjective
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reducibleadjective
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reduciblyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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reducesimple
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reducessimple
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have reducedperfect
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has reducedperfect
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am reducingprogressive
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are reducingprogressive
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is reducingprogressive
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have been reducingperfect progressive
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has been reducingperfect progressive
Past
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reducedsimple
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had reducedperfect
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was reducingprogressive
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were reducingprogressive
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had been reducingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of reduce
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English reducen “to lead back,” from Latin redūcere “to lead back, bring back,” equivalent to re- re- + dūcere “to lead”
Explanation
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.
Vocabulary lists containing reduce
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Lead the Way: Duc and Duct
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Words to Know Before You Defrost the Bird
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
These concerns have encouraged scientists to investigate ways to reduce body fat while protecting the muscles needed for long-term health.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 2026
Launching a consultation on its policy on Friday, the Welsh government said undergrounding electricity circuits could "reduce the visual impact of electricity infrastructure, helping to protect landscapes and local amenity".
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
American Express said it is cutting 5% of its workforce to reduce layers and speed up decision making.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
He argues for balancing the federal budget, envisioning doing detailed, line-level work to find cuts that will reduce the national debt.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
The great Caltech physicist Richard Feynman once observed that if you had to reduce scientific history to one important statement it would be "All things are made of atoms."
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
Unlike on foldables from Samsung and Google, the “nano-texture” display noticeably reduces glare and camouflages the indent where the phone folds.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
The subsequent crisis has made prolonged blackouts the norm, which in turn reduces the water supply, as pumping depends primarily on electric turbines.
From Barron's ● Oct. 21, 2026
This double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled approach is considered the gold standard in clinical research because it reduces potential bias and allows investigators to assess treatment effects more objectively.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 20, 2026
But many Malibu residents acknowledge this only reduces the risk your home burns — and provides no guarantees.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 17, 2026
It deflates them, reduces them to the common denominator where they can be dealt with.
From "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood
She was convicted last year of embezzlement but reduced her sentence on appeal by enough to run again.
From Slate ● Oct. 24, 2026
Compact spectrometers often have limited measurement ranges, reduced resolution, or lower accuracy, making them better suited to identifying substances than performing precise measurements.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 2026
A study on Switzerland, external found that a 0.1 percentage point increase in a wealth tax reduced taxable wealth by 3.5%.
From BBC ● Oct. 23, 2026
“If the neoclouds fail to lift off, that doubles back on Nvidia with reduced sales and even more reduced margins,” Goldberg said, referring to a key measure of profitability.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2026
Burry did not think investing could be reduced to a formula or learned from any one role model.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Moderna repriced options for nonexecutive employees in late 2025, reducing the number of shares underlying the instruments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 24, 2026
That combination raises the possibility of developing treatments that change how the body handles energy, potentially complementing medications that primarily work by reducing appetite.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 24, 2026
Chief executive Benjamin Heaven Taylor said black poplars play an important role in reducing flood risk, by lining rivers and floodplains, holding water back.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
McKinney has focused his campaign on lessening the city’s homelessness crisis by leveraging people into treatment, tackling quality-of-life crimes, and reducing the city’s out-of-control legal costs.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 23, 2026
There is of course a legitimate concern about reducing complicated phenomena to simple numerical scales or statistics.
From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos
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