Dictionary definition for: Reduce

1. (v) cut down on; make a reduction in; "reduce your daily fat intake" "The employer wants to cut back health benefits"

2. (v) make less complex; "reduce a problem to a single question"

3. (v) bring to humbler or weaker state or condition; "He reduced the population to slavery"

4. (v) simplify the form of a mathematical equation of expression by substituting one term for another

5. (v) lower in grade or rank or force somebody into an undignified situation; "She reduced her niece to a servant"

6. (v) be the essential element; "The proposal boils down to a compromise"

7. (v) reduce in size; reduce physically; "Hot water will shrink the sweater" "Can you shrink this image?"

8. (v) lessen and make more modest; "reduce one''s standard of living"

9. (v) make smaller; "reduce an image"

10. (v) 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

11. (v) narrow or limit; "reduce the influx of foreigners"

12. (v) 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"

13. (v) undergo meiosis; "The cells reduce"

14. (v) reposition (a broken bone after surgery) back to its normal site

15. (v) reduce in scope while retaining essential elements; "The manuscript must be shortened"

16. (v) be cooked until very little liquid is left; "The sauce should reduce to one cup"

17. (v) cook until very little liquid is left; "The cook reduced the sauce by boiling it for a long time"

18. (v) lessen the strength or flavor of a solution or mixture; "cut bourbon"

19. (v) take off weight