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| re·duce [ ri dss ] (past and past participle re·duced, present participle re·duc·ing, 3rd person present singular re·duc·es) |
verb |
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| Definition: |
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1. transitive and intransitive verb decrease: to become smaller in size, number, extent, degree, or intensity, or make something smaller in this way
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2. transitive verb worsen state of somebody or something: to bring somebody or something into a particular undesirable state
  Bombing had reduced the town to rubble.
reduced them to tears
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3. transitive verb make something cheaper: to lower the price or cost of an item for sale
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4. transitive verb simplify something: to make something simpler, especially by extracting or summarizing essential components
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5. transitive verb analyze something systematically: to analyze something in terms of a system or rule, usually as an aid to explaining or understanding it
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6. transitive verb demote somebody: to place somebody officially in a lower rank or grade, e.g. as a punishment for breaking rules
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7. transitive and intransitive verb cooking thicken: to make a sauce or stock thicker by boiling off some of the liquid, or become thicker in this way
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8. transitive verb mathematics simplify equation: to simplify an expression or equation without changing its value
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9. transitive and intransitive verb chemistry undergo chemical reaction: to undergo a chemical reaction in which there is a gain in hydrogen or a loss of oxygen, or cause a substance to undergo this
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10. transitive and intransitive verb chemistry gain electrons: to undergo a chemical reaction in which there is an increase in the number of electrons, or cause a substance to undergo this
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11. transitive verb photog decrease density of negative: to lessen the density of a photographic negative using a chemical substance
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12. transitive verb take control of place or people: to bring a place or people under authority using force
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13. transitive verb metallurgy refine ore: to remove the impurities from an ore in order to obtain the pure metal
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14. transitive and intransitive verb biology undergo cell division: to undergo the type of cell division meiosis that halves the number of chromosomes in the two resultant cells, or cause cells to undergo this
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15. intransitive verb lose weight: to lose weight, especially by dieting
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| [14th century. < Latin reducere "bring back" < ducere "to lead"] |
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