reduce

American  

[ri-doos, -dyoos] / rɪˈdus, -ˈdjus /

verb (used with object)

• reduces,
  present (3rd person singular)
• reduced,
  past participle,  past
• reducing
  present participle

1. 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

2. to lower in degree, intensity, etc..

   to reduce the speed of a car.

   Synonyms:

   abate, attenuate, lessen

3. to bring down to a lower rank, dignity, etc..

   a sergeant reduced to a corporal

   Synonyms:

   humble, demote, degrade

   Antonyms:

   exalt, elevate

4. to treat analytically, as a complex idea.

5. to lower in price.

6. to bring to a certain state, condition, arrangement, etc..

   to reduce glass to powder.

7. to bring under control or authority.

   Synonyms:

   overpower, overcome, vanquish, subject, conquer, subjugate, subdue

8. Cooking. to evaporate water from (a sauce, soup, or other liquid), usually by boiling.

9. Photography. to lessen the density of (an exposed negative).

10. to adjust or correct by making allowances, as an astronomical observation.

11. Mathematics. to change the denomination or form, but not the value, of (a fraction, polynomial, etc.).

12. Chemistry.

    1. to add electrons to.

    2. to deoxidize.

    3. to add hydrogen to.

    4. to change (a compound) so that the valence of the positive element is lower.

13. Chemistry, Metallurgy. to bring into the metallic state by separating from nonmetallic constituents.

14. to thin or dilute.

    to reduce paint with oil or turpentine.

15. to lower the alcoholic concentration of (spirits) by diluting with water.

16. Surgery. to restore to the normal place, relation, or condition, as a fractured bone.

17. 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.

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verb (used without object)

• reduces,
  present (3rd person singular)
• reduced,
  past participle,  past
• reducing
  present participle

1. to become reduced.

2. to become lessened, especially in weight.

3. to be turned into or made to equal something.

   All our difficulties reduce to financial problems.

4. Cell Biology. to undergo meiosis.

reduce British  

/ rɪˈdjuːs /

verb

1. (also intr) to make or become smaller in size, number, extent, degree, intensity, etc

2. to bring into a certain state, condition, etc

   to reduce a forest to ashes

   to reduce someone to despair

3. (also intr) to make or become slimmer; lose or cause to lose excess weight

4. to impoverish (esp in the phrase in reduced circumstances )

5. to bring into a state of submission to one's authority; subjugate

   the whole country was reduced after three months

6. to bring down the price of (a commodity)

   the shirt was reduced in the sale

7. to lower the rank or status of; demote

   he was reduced from corporal to private

   reduced to the ranks

8. to set out systematically as an aid to understanding; simplify

   his theories have been reduced in a popular treatise

9. maths to modify or simplify the form of (an expression or equation), esp by substitution of one term by another

10. cookery to make (a sauce, stock, etc) more concentrated by boiling away some of the water in it

11. to thin out (paint) by adding oil, turpentine, etc; dilute

12. (also intr) chem

    1. to undergo or cause to undergo a chemical reaction with hydrogen or formation of a hydride

    2. to lose or cause to lose oxygen atoms

    3. to undergo or cause to undergo an increase in the number of electrons Compare oxidize

13. 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

14. surgery to manipulate or reposition (a broken or displaced bone, organ, or part) back to its normal site

15. (also intr) biology to undergo or cause to undergo meiosis

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• reducibility
  noun
• overreduce
  verb
• antireducing
  adjective
• nonreducing
  adjective
• reducible
  adjective
• reducibly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Participles

• reducing
  present
• reduced
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• reduce
  simple
• reduces
  simple
• have reduced
  perfect
• has reduced
  perfect
• am reducing
  progressive
• are reducing
  progressive
• is reducing
  progressive
• have been reducing
  perfect progressive
• has been reducing
  perfect progressive

Past

• reduced
  simple
• had reduced
  perfect
• was reducing
  progressive
• were reducing
  progressive
• had been reducing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will reduce
  simple
• will have reduced
  perfect
• will be reducing
  progressive
• will have been reducing
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

reduce reduces reduced reducing

The funds raised by Yangtze Memory Technologies, or YMTC, should boost its production and mark another step in China’s efforts to reduce its reliance on foreign chip technology as the global artificial intelligence competition intensifies.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 24, 2026

His latest idea is to use some of the Treasury’s cash on hand to reduce borrowings.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026

Greer told the New York Times on Saturday that the Trump administration offered to eliminate a 10-percent tariff on softwood lumber, and reduce the 25-percent autos tariff.

From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026

Efforts to reduce screen viewing may therefore be most useful when they begin during infancy and are reinforced as children approach school entry age.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026

The city’s 80 percent unemployment rate, a result of the Great Depression, had led factory managers to reduce wages and inspired thousands of citizens to support the strikers.

From "Fannie Never Flinched" by Mary Cronk Farrell

“That’s a policy choice that does not change anything. It just reduces the cash that Treasury has on deposit,” Padhraic Garvey, regional head of research, Americas, for ING, said in a note to clients.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026

Shein says it conducts regular third-party audits to ensure fair wages, and it says its on-demand model avoids overproduction and thus "dramatically reduces waste".

From Barron's ● Aug. 24, 2026

The Panama Canal greatly reduces the time and distance ships have to travel between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

Normally, a sharp increase in price eventually reduces consumer demand in a process economists call demand destruction.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

Once the shadow reduces to a quarter crescent, it hangs there, motionless.

From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith

When a major studio buys its competitor, it leads to lower compensation for industry workers and reduced choices and diversity for audiences.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026

Instead, this week’s tournament at Chatham Hills in Indiana was turned into the season finale with reduced prize money.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 22, 2026

But the court reduced the $45.2 million in punitive damages awarded by a jury to $1.5 million, citing limits under Texas law.

From Salon ● Aug. 22, 2026

Last year it said the number of horses needs to be reduced in line with the grazing limit.

From BBC ● Aug. 21, 2026

She was grateful for our help and showed remarkable improvement when we told her that we were going to fight to get her sentence reduced, but she had many other needs.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

Instead of reducing the amount of energy a person consumes, their approach is designed to increase the amount of energy the body uses by raising metabolic activity.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 23, 2026

IC substrates are "critical" in the AI ecosystem "because they're one of the key aspects of reducing power consumption, reducing noise, increasing speed," he added.

From Barron's ● Aug. 23, 2026

But reducing or omitting speech from a movie’s audio tracks forces viewers to give the screen their full attention, which Netflix and other streaming services assume is a lost cause in the second-screen era.

From Salon ● Aug. 22, 2026

In a press release issued after that investigation, Shein said that those working hours were “higher than local regulations permit” and that it was reducing orders from both factories until the issues were rectified.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026

He came to believe that that one terrible day of reducing may have triggered the onset of the crippling disease.

From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand

Related Words

• curtail
• cut
• cut down
• diminish
• dwindle
• knock off
• lessen
• lower
• pare
• scale down
• shorten
• slash
• trim
• weaken