induce

American  

[in-doos, -dyoos] / ɪnˈdus, -ˈdjus /

verb (used with object)

• induces,
  present (3rd person singular)
• induced,
  past participle,  past
• inducing
  present participle

1. to lead or move by persuasion or influence, as to some action or state of mind.

   to induce a person to buy a raffle ticket.

   Synonyms:

   spur, urge, incite, prompt, actuate

   Antonyms:

   dissuade

2. to bring about, produce, or cause.

   That medicine will induce sleep.

3. Physics. to produce (an electric current) by induction.

4. Logic. to assert or establish (a proposition about a class of phenomena) on the basis of observations on a number of particular facts.

5. Genetics. to increase expression of (a gene) by inactivating a negative control system or activating a positive control system; derepress.

6. Biochemistry. to stimulate the synthesis of (a protein, especially an enzyme) by increasing gene transcription.

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induce British  

/ ɪnˈdjuːs /

verb

1. (often foll by an infinitive) to persuade or use influence on

2. to cause or bring about

3. med to initiate or hasten (labour), as by administering a drug to stimulate uterine contractions

4. obsolete logic to assert or establish (a general proposition, hypothesis, etc) by induction

5. to produce (an electromotive force or electrical current) by induction

6. to transmit (magnetism) by induction

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Synonym Usage

See persuade.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• inducer
  noun
• preinduce
  verb (used with object)
• reinduce
  verb (used with object)
• inducible
  adjective
• noninducible
  adjective
• uninducible
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• inducing
  present
• induced
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• induce
  simple
• induces
  simple
• have induced
  perfect
• has induced
  perfect
• am inducing
  progressive
• are inducing
  progressive
• is inducing
  progressive
• have been inducing
  perfect progressive
• has been inducing
  perfect progressive

Past

• induced
  simple
• had induced
  perfect
• was inducing
  progressive
• were inducing
  progressive
• had been inducing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will induce
  simple
• will have induced
  perfect
• will be inducing
  progressive
• will have been inducing
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of induce

First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English, from Latin indūcere “to lead or bring in, introduce,” equivalent to in- in- ² + dūcere “to lead”; cf. adduce, deduce, reduce

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Explanation

To induce is to move or lead someone to action. A promise of a lollipop can induce a toddler to do just about anything, even sit down and be polite to Aunt Edna. Older kids need something more substantial. Some people believe that if you offer someone a large enough sum of money, you could induce them to do almost anything. But a movie heroine might say to the villain, "Nothing could induce me to marry you. Not all the money in the world. Not if you were the last man on Earth!" Induce also means to stimulate the occurrence of something, such as medications used to induce vomiting, or to induce a pregnant woman to go into labor.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

induce induces induced inducing

Chatbots can't create "emotional reliance or addiction" or induce people to make "unreasonable decisions".

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026

“I think that would induce a recession which would eventually drive down yields.”

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 30, 2026

"The strain-dependent nature suggests that we may be able to use lattice strain as a tuning knob to induce or control altermagnetism," Zhang said.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 27, 2026

Section 301 allows a president to tariff as a targeted economic diplomacy measure to induce a foreign government to abandon a particular practice.

From Slate ● Aug. 27, 2026

Embryo once again narrows his eyes to a squint and stares at me hard, trying to induce a sweat.

From "All The Bright Places" by Jennifer Niven

If you’ve never been in a Dulles people mover, you might be puzzled by the white-hot hatred it induces.

From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026

And while much of the movie induces sidesplitting guffaws, Tremaine said that producer and co-creator Spike Jonze was eager to highlight the sensitive beats shared between the cast.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026

It is used in combination with a second drug misoprostol, which induces cramping.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026

"A provider induces infringement if it actively encourages infringement through specific acts," it said.

From Barron's ● Mar. 25, 2026

The view induces the opposite of vertigo, a lurching feeling inspired not by gravity’s pull to earth, but by the infinite reaches of heaven.

From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri

Sophie said she and Ryli were told Florence may need to be induced into a coma at any point and it was "so touch-and-go the whole time".

From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026

Meanwhile, induced neurons derived from female participants showed an increase in autophagy with age.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 13, 2026

When she went into labour, Katie was induced and then "we were left in a room for long periods of time where I had no care," she explained.

From BBC ● Oct. 8, 2026

Then he induced Ronald Acuña Jr. to ground out to second to escape the jam.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026

When bacteria switched from glucose to lactose consumption, they induced specific lactose-digesting enzymes.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee

Since the founding of the Soviet Union, Moscow’s security services have relied on inducing people they wished to arrest into committing some hostile or unlawful act in order to arrest them.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 25, 2026

But Snell avoided further damage by inducing Jordan Beck to fly out and Cole Carrigg to strike out.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

This separation is a phase change that consumes energy, inducing a cooling effect, like when steam evaporates off a cup of hot water.

From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2026

It signals to every counterparty transacting with a designated party that it could be next, inducing it to sever its ties to Iranian-linked finance.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026

The hot exposed solar interior will flood the shell with ultraviolet light, inducing a lovely red and blue fluorescence extending beyond the orbit of Pluto.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan

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Related Words

• activate
• breed
• bring about
• cause
• coax
• convince
• engender
• generate
• lead to
• motivate
• persuade
• produce
• promote
• prompt
• urge

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