reducer

American  

[ri-doo-ser, -dyoo-] / rɪˈdu sər, -ˈdju- /

noun

• reducers
  plural

1. a person or thing that reduces.

2. Photography.

   1. an oxidizing solution for lessening the density of an exposed negative.

   2. a developing agent.

3. (in plumbing) a coupling decreasing in diameter at one end.

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reducer British  

/ rɪˈdjuːsə /

noun

1. photog a chemical solution used to lessen the density of a negative or print by oxidizing some of the blackened silver to soluble silver compounds Compare intensifier

2. a pipe fitting connecting two pipes of different diameters

3. a person or thing that reduces

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• antireducer
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• reducers
  plural

Etymology

Origin of reducer

First recorded in 1520–30; reduce + -er ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

reducer reducers

Leaders generally prefer to keep employees where they can see them, but it is possible to spin remote work as a headache reducer for your would-be manager.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 26, 2026

Participating in Veganuary also appears to shift people's identity from seeing themselves as a meat eater to more of a "meat reducer" or "meat excluder".

From Salon ● Jan. 2, 2025

The plant contains dozens of bioactive chemical compounds and is used throughout Southeast Asia and China as a painkiller, fever reducer, and diuretic.

From Science Magazine ● May 1, 2024

Acetaminophen is considered the safest over-the-counter pain reliever and fever reducer available during pregnancy.

From Science Daily ● Jan. 3, 2024

He is not to be dreaded by widows and orphans; he is a reducer of surplusage.

From The Gentle Grafter by H. C. Greening

They may be the companies supplying actuators, reducers, sensors, machine vision, batteries, motion-control systems and industrial software.

From MarketWatch ● May 27, 2026

The components include sensors, so-called coreless motors that power precise high-speed movements and speed reducers often used in joints to mimic human motions.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026

China controls 99% of heavy rare earths and 80% of basic ingredients for antibiotics and fever reducers.

From Barron's ● Nov. 18, 2025

But it doesn’t have to be especially so if you — and the stressed-out loved ones in your orbit — have an arsenal of stress relievers, anxiety reducers and mood lifters at the ready.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 1, 2023

We shall have more compilers and reducers and fewer thinkers; more modifiers and completers, and fewer inventors.

From Robert Falconer by George MacDonald