| a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc. |
| a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal. |
reduce (rɪˈdjuːs) ![]() | |
| —vb | |
| 1. | (also intr) to make or become smaller in size, number, extent, degree, intensity, etc |
| 2. | to bring into a certain state, condition, etc: to reduce a forest to ashes; to reduce someone to despair |
| 3. | (also intr) to make or become slimmer; lose or cause to lose excess weight |
| 4. | to impoverish (esp in the phrase in reduced circumstances) |
| 5. | to bring into a state of submission to one's authority; subjugate: the whole country was reduced after three months |
| 6. | to bring down the price of (a commodity): the shirt was reduced in the sale |
| 7. | to lower the rank or status of; demote: he was reduced from corporal to private; reduced to the ranks |
| 8. | to set out systematically as an aid to understanding; simplify: his theories have been reduced in a popular treatise |
| 9. | maths to modify or simplify the form of (an expression or equation), esp by substitution of one term by another |
| 10. | cookery to make (a sauce, stock, etc) more concentrated by boiling away some of the water in it |
| 11. | to thin out (paint) by adding oil, turpentine, etc; dilute |
| 12. | (also intr) chem |
| a. to undergo or cause to undergo a chemical reaction with hydrogen or formation of a hydride | |
| b. to lose or cause to lose oxygen atoms | |
| c. Compare oxidize to undergo or cause to undergo an increase in the number of electrons | |
| 13. | photog to lessen the density of (a negative or print) by converting some of the blackened silver in the emulsion to soluble silver compounds by an oxidation process using a photographic reducer |
| 14. | surgery to manipulate or reposition (a broken or displaced bone, organ, or part) back to its normal site |
| 15. | (also intr) biology to undergo or cause to undergo meiosis |
| [C14: from Latin redūcere to bring back, from | |
| re'ducible | |
| —adj | |
| reduci'bility | |
| —n | |
| re'ducibly | |
| —adv | |
reduce re·duce (rĭ-d&oomacr;s', -dy&oomacr;s')
v. re·duced, re·duc·ing, re·duc·es
To bring down, as in extent, amount, or degree; diminish.
To lose weight, as by dieting.
To restore a fractured or displaced body part to a normal condition or position.
To decrease the valence of an atom by adding electrons.
To remove oxygen from a compound.
To add hydrogen to a compound.