reduce

re|duce

W1S1 [rıˈdju:s US rıˈdu:s] v

[Date: 1300-1400; : Latin; Origin: reducere 'to lead back', from ducere 'to lead']

1.) [T]

to make something smaller or less in size, amount, or price

= ↑cut

→↑reduction

▪ The governor announced a new plan to reduce crime.

▪ The helmet law should reduce injuries in motorcycle accidents.

▪ Small businesses will need to reduce costs in order to survive.

reduce sth by sth

▪ The workforce has been reduced by half.

reduce sth (from sth) to sth

▪ All the shirts were reduced to £10.

▪ The new bridge should reduce travelling time from 50 minutes to 15 minutes.

2.) [I and T]

if you reduce a liquid, or if it reduces, you boil it so that there is less of it

3.) [i]especially AmE to become thinner by losing weight

→↑diet

4.) be in reduced circumstances

old-fashioned to be poorer than you were before

reduce to [reduce sb/sth to sth] phr v

1.) reduce sb to tears/silence etc

to make someone cry, be silent etc

▪ She was reduced to tears in front of her students.

2.) reduce sb to doing sth

to make someone do something they would rather not do, especially when it involves behaving or living in a way that is not as good as before

▪ Eventually Charlotte was reduced to begging on the streets.

3.) reduce sth to ashes/rubble/ruins

to destroy something, especially a building, completely

▪ A massive earthquake reduced the city to rubble.

4.) to change something into a shorter simpler form

▪ Many jobs can be reduced to a few simple points.