reduce

About 45.55 uses per million words.

Meaning

1. verb To bring down the size, quantity, quality, value or intensity of something; to diminish, to lower.

   to reduce weight, speed, heat, expenses, price, personnel etc.

2. verb To lose weight.
3. verb To bring to an inferior rank; to degrade, to demote.

   to reduce a sergeant to the ranks

4. verb To humble; to conquer; to subdue; to capture.

   to reduce a province or a fort

5. verb To bring to an inferior state or condition.

   to reduce a city to ashes

6. verb To be forced by circumstances (into something one considers unworthy).

   reduced to silence

7. verb To decrease the liquid content of (a food) by boiling much of its water off.
8. verb To add electrons / hydrogen or to remove oxygen.

   Formaldehyde can be reduced to form methanol.

Similar words

cut back scale down shrink trim quash keep down bring down repress shorten come down

Often followed by

the their to its it or this them costs his

Word family

reduced reducer reducers reduces reducibilities reducibility reducible reducibly reducing