reduce

«reduce» in Mova's school dictionary: to make it smaller in size, amount, number or strength — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 5 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

part of speech

verb (reduce, reduces, reduced, reducing)

meaning for a pupil

1) To reduce something is to make it smaller in size, amount, number or strength. tree →

2) To reduce a price is to make it cheaper. tree →

3) In cooking, to reduce a sauce is to boil it so it becomes thicker and smaller in amount. tree →

4) To be reduced to something is to be brought to a worse state, such as being reduced to tears. tree →

5) To reduce something can mean to write it down in a simpler, standard form. tree →

sense in the lessons

In maths, «reduce by 5» means subtract 5; «reduce by half» means divide by 2; «reduced by 20%» means take away a fifth; to reduce a fraction means to simplify it (6/8 = 3/4). In science and everyday life, «reduce, reuse, recycle» means using less, so there is less waste; we reduce energy use by switching off lights. Phrases: «reduce by», «reduce to», «reduced price», «reduce waste», «reduce speed».

examples

• Reduce 20 by 5 and you get 15. tree →
• The shop reduced the price of the shoes. tree →
• We can reduce waste by using a lunchbox. tree →
• Reduce speed near schools. tree →
• Wearing a helmet reduces the risk of head injury. tree →
• Reduce the fraction 4/8 to 1/2. tree →
• Cook the sauce until it reduces. tree →
• The sad film reduced me to tears. tree →
• I have reduced the Suffolk dialect. tree →

note

Regular verb: reduced. Noun: reduction. «Reduce by» tells you how much is taken away; «reduce to» tells you the new amount: «reduce 50 by 10» → 40; «reduce 50 to 10» → 10. In maths problems «reduced» means the number gets smaller.

In the corpora

• The black mask round a raccoon's eyes may reduce glare and help it see at night, though scientists are not completely sure.
• "Culled" means animals were killed to reduce their numbers.
• "In reduced circumstances" (old-fashioned UK) means poorer than before.
• A cold pack helps reduce the pain and swelling of a sting.
• Put a cold pack wrapped in a cloth on a bruise for a few minutes, because cold reduces swelling and pain.

Trees and pragmatics

Every meaning and example of «reduce» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.