Reduce - Definition
reduce
v 1: cut down on; make a reduction in; "reduce your daily fat
intake"; "The employer wants to cut back health benefits"
[syn: reduce, cut down, cut back, trim, trim
down, trim back, cut, bring down]
2: make less complex; "reduce a problem to a single question"
3: bring to humbler or weaker state or condition; "He reduced
the population to slavery"
4: simplify the form of a mathematical equation of expression by
substituting one term for another
5: lower in grade or rank or force somebody into an undignified
situation; "She reduced her niece to a servant"
6: be the essential element; "The proposal boils down to a
compromise" [syn: reduce, come down, boil down]
7: reduce in size; reduce physically; "Hot water will shrink the
sweater"; "Can you shrink this image?" [syn: shrink,
reduce]
8: lessen and make more modest; "reduce one's standard of
living"
9: make smaller; "reduce an image" [syn: reduce, scale down]
[ant: blow up, enlarge, magnify]
10: to remove oxygen from a compound, or cause to react with
hydrogen or form a hydride, or to undergo an increase in the
number of electrons [syn: deoxidize, deoxidise,
reduce] [ant: oxidate, oxidise, oxidize]
11: narrow or limit; "reduce the influx of foreigners" [syn:
reduce, tighten]
12: put down by force or intimidation; "The government quashes
any attempt of an uprising"; "China keeps down her
dissidents very efficiently"; "The rich landowners
subjugated the peasants working the land" [syn: repress,
quash, keep down, subdue, subjugate, reduce]
13: undergo meiosis; "The cells reduce"
14: reposition (a broken bone after surgery) back to its normal
site
15: destress and thus weaken a sound when pronouncing it
16: reduce in scope while retaining essential elements; "The
manuscript must be shortened" [syn: abridge,
foreshorten, abbreviate, shorten, cut, contract,
reduce] [ant: dilate, elaborate, enlarge, expand,
expatiate, exposit, expound, flesh out, lucubrate]
17: be cooked until very little liquid is left; "The sauce
should reduce to one cup" [syn: boil down, reduce,
decoct, concentrate]
18: cook until very little liquid is left; "The cook reduced the
sauce by boiling it for a long time" [syn: reduce, boil
down, concentrate]
19: lessen the strength or flavor of a solution or mixture; "cut
bourbon" [syn: dilute, thin, thin out, reduce,
cut]
20: take off weight [syn: reduce, melt off, lose weight,
slim, slenderize, thin, slim down] [ant: gain,
put on]