|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries: |
Research categories | Follow us on Twitter |
Research categories
View all topics in the newsView all reference sources at Encyclopedia.com |
|||
reduce
re·duce / riˈd(y)oōs/ • v. [tr.] 1. make smaller or less in amount, degree, or size: the need for businesses to reduce costs the workforce has been reduced to some 6,100| [as adj.] (reduced) a reduced risk of coronary disease. ∎ [intr.] become smaller or less in size, amount, or degree: the number of priority homeless cases has reduced slightly. ∎ boil (a sauce or other liquid) in cooking so that it becomes thicker and more concentrated. ∎ [intr.] (of a person) lose weight, typically by dieting: by May she had reduced to 125 pounds. ∎ archaic conquer (a place), in particular besiege and capture (a town or fortress). ∎ Photog. make (a negative or print) less dense. ∎ Phonet. articulate (a speech sound) in a way requiring less muscular effort. In vowels, this gives rise to a more central articulatory position. 2. (reduce someone/something to) bring someone or something to (a lower or weaker state, condition, or role): she has been reduced to near poverty the church was reduced to rubble. ∎ (be reduced to doing something) (of a person) be forced by difficult circumstances into doing something desperate: ordinary soldiers are reduced to begging. ∎ make someone helpless with (an expression of emotion, esp. with hurt, shock, or amusement): Olga was reduced to stunned silence. ∎ force into (obedience or submission): he succeeds in reducing his grandees to due obedience. 3. (reduce something to) change a substance to (a different or more basic form): it is difficult to understand how lava could have been reduced to dust. ∎ present a problem or subject in (a simplified form): he reduces unimaginable statistics to manageable proportions. ∎ convert a fraction to (the form with the lowest terms). 4. Chem. cause to combine chemically with hydrogen. ∎ undergo or cause to undergo a reaction in which electrons are gained by one atom from another. The opposite of oxidize. 5. restore (a dislocated part) to its proper position by manipulation or surgery. ∎ remedy (a dislocation) in such a way. PHRASES: reduced circumstances used euphemistically to refer to the state of being poor after being relatively wealthy: a divorcee living in reduced circumstances. reduce someone to the ranks demote a noncommissioned officer to an ordinary soldier.DERIVATIVES: re·duc·er n. ORIGIN: late Middle English: from Latin reducere, from re- ‘back, again’ + ducere ‘bring, lead.’ The original sense was ‘bring back’ (hence ‘restore,’ now surviving in sense 5); this led to ‘bring to a different state,’ then ‘bring to a simpler or lower state’ (hence sense 3); and finally ‘diminish in size or amount’ (sense 1, dating from the late 18th cent.). |
|
|
Cite this article
"reduce." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "reduce." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-reduce.html "reduce." The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English. 2009. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O999-reduce.html |
|
reduce
reduce †bring or lead back XIV; bring or restore to a condition; bring into subjection, bring down XV; diminish XVI. — L. redūcere bring back, restore, replace, f. RE- + dūcere lead, bring.
So reduction XV. — (O)F. or L. |
|
|
Cite this article
T. F. HOAD. "reduce." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. T. F. HOAD. "reduce." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-reduce.html T. F. HOAD. "reduce." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Etymology. 1996. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O27-reduce.html |
|
reduce
reduce v. archaic conquer (a place), in particular besiege and capture (a town or fortress).
reduce someone to the ranks demote a noncommissioned officer to an ordinary soldier. |
|
|
Cite this article
"reduce." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "reduce." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-reduce.html "reduce." The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. 2001. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O63-reduce.html |
|
reduce
reduce The process of boiling a mixture (especially when making a sauce, soup, or syrup) in an uncovered pan to evaporate surplus liquid and give a more concentrated product.
|
|
|
Cite this article
DAVID A. BENDER. "reduce." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. DAVID A. BENDER. "reduce." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O39-reduce.html DAVID A. BENDER. "reduce." A Dictionary of Food and Nutrition. 2005. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O39-reduce.html |
|
reduce
reduce •abstruse, abuse, adduce, Ballets Russes, Belarus, Bruce, burnous, caboose, charlotte russe, conduce, deduce, deuce, diffuse, douce, educe, excuse, goose, induce, introduce, juice, Larousse, loose, luce, misuse, moose, mousse, noose, obtuse, Palouse, papoose, produce, profuse, puce, recluse, reduce, Rousse, seduce, sluice, Sousse, spruce, traduce, truce, use, vamoose, Zeus
•cayuse • calaboose • mongoose
•Aarhus • verjuice • couscous
•footloose • ventouse • refuse
•Odysseus • Idomeneus • hypotenuse
•Syracuse
|
|
|
Cite this article
"reduce." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. 31 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "reduce." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Encyclopedia.com. (May 31, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-reduce.html "reduce." Oxford Dictionary of Rhymes. 2007. Retrieved May 31, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O233-reduce.html |
|
Search over 100 encyclopedias and dictionaries:
HighBeam™ Research, Inc. © Copyright 2012. All rights reserved.
The Encyclopedia.com advertising network includes:
