Reduce \Re*duce"\ (r[-e]*d[=u]s"), v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Reduced} (-d[=u]st"),; p. pr. & vb. n. {Reducing} (-d[=u]"s[i^]ng).] [L. reducere, reductum; pref. red-. re-, re- + ducere to lead. See {Duke}, and cf. {Redoubt}, n.] 1. To bring or lead back to any former place or condition. [Obs.]
And to his brother's house reduced his wife. --Chapman.
The sheep must of necessity be scattered, unless the great Shephered of souls oppose, or some of his delegates reduce and direct us. --Evelyn.
2. To bring to any inferior state, with respect to rank, size, quantity, quality, value, etc.; to diminish; to lower; to degrade; to impair; as, to reduce a sergeant to the ranks; to reduce a drawing; to reduce expenses; to reduce the intensity of heat. ``An ancient but reduced family.'' --Sir W. Scott.
Nothing so excellent but a man may fasten upon something belonging to it, to reduce it. --Tillotson.
Having reduced Their foe to misery beneath their fears. --Milton.
Hester Prynne was shocked at the condition to which she found the clergyman reduced. --Hawthorne.
3. To bring to terms; to humble; to conquer; to subdue; to capture; as, to reduce a province or a fort.
4. To bring to a certain state or condition by grinding, pounding, kneading, rubbing, etc.; as, to reduce a substance to powder, or to a pasty mass; to reduce fruit, wood, or paper rags, to pulp.
It were but right And equal to reduce me to my dust. --Milton.
5. To bring into a certain order, arrangement, classification, etc.; to bring under rules or within certain limits of descriptions and terms adapted to use in computation; as, to reduce animals or vegetables to a class or classes; to reduce a series of observations in astronomy; to reduce language to rules.
6. (Arith.) (a) To change, as numbers, from one denomination into another without altering their value, or from one denomination into others of the same value; as, to reduce pounds, shillings, and pence to pence, or to reduce pence to pounds; to reduce days and hours to minutes, or minutes to days and hours. (b) To change the form of a quantity or expression without altering its value; as, to reduce fractions to their lowest terms, to a common denominator, etc.
7. (Chem.) To add an electron to an atom or ion. Specifically: To remove oxygen from; to deoxidize. (Metallurgy) To bring to the metallic state by separating from combined oxygen and impurities; as, metals are reduced from their ores. (Chem.) To combine with, or to subject to the action of, hydrogen or any other reducing agent; as, ferric iron is reduced to ferrous iron; aldehydes can be reduced to alcohols by lithium hydride; -- opposed to {oxidize}. [1913 Webster +PJC]
8. (Med.) To restore to its proper place or condition, as a displaced organ or part; as, to reduce a dislocation, a fracture, or a hernia.
{Reduced iron} (Chem.), metallic iron obtained through deoxidation of an oxide of iron by exposure to a current of hydrogen or other reducing agent. When hydrogen is used the product is called also {iron by hydrogen}.
{To reduce an equation} (Alg.), to bring the unknown quantity by itself on one side, and all the known quantities on the other side, without destroying the equation.
{To reduce an expression} (Alg.), to obtain an equivalent expression of simpler form.
{To reduce a square} (Mil.), to reform the line or column from the square.
But the unexpected savings from the drought may now reduce the deficit below $146 billion.
Proponents of the plans contend the refinancings reduce the budget deficit in the current fiscal year by paying off the government's loans in cash up front.
I don't think you should just reduce it to a black-white situation," Jackson replied.
The Soviet Union, for its part, seems at present prepared to reduce these weapons only in exchange for cuts in the numbers of the newly crucial NATO combat aircraft.
Trading could also get a boost from proposals to reduce smog.
If companies reduce the stock-option portion, they'll have to offer more cash to new employees, predicts Steven Garfinkle of Richards Consultants, a Wellesley Hills, Mass. search firm.
The Federal Aviation Administration, in another step designed to reduce the chance of air sabotage, soon will propose a computerized security system to tighten control over access to planes, the agency's director said today.
If the projected 1990 deficit on Oct. 16 is higher than $110 billion, a sequester under Gramm-Rudman-Hollings would automatically reduce next year's spending levels to the extent necessary to reduce the estimated deficit to $100 billion.
If the projected 1990 deficit on Oct. 16 is higher than $110 billion, a sequester under Gramm-Rudman-Hollings would automatically reduce next year's spending levels to the extent necessary to reduce the estimated deficit to $100 billion.
That was bearish for bonds because a stronger economy reduces the likelihood that the Federal Reserve will reduce interest rates.
The administration's record hasn't been entirely negative. Spurred by the warnings of scientists, it supported the international agreement to reduce emissions of chemicals that are destroying the Earth's ozone layer.
By March 1, the company said it hopes to reduce its work force by another 100 to 200 employees.
The interest will grow to 10% over the next three years, while Bell Atlantic and Ameritech will reduce their combined stake to 49.9% through a series of stock offerings that could begin as early as next year.
Instead he advocates replacing Social Security with a means-test system that would reduce or deny benefits to the elderly with higher incomes.
The company said it would reduce the work force at its main Wisconsin plants by about 400 people, which is about 7% of overall employment but 18% of its manufacturing personnel.
"I think it is they who make the most major changes, and reduce the probabilities of an event such as last October recurring."
Forming an independent board is intended to reduce Freddie Mac's sensitivity to politics and increase its sensitivity to shareholders, who will elect 13 members.
Harland's pension scheme also has an investment of Pounds 500,000 in the service. He said PI was now 'making progress', despite a warning in February that delays and start-up costs would reduce profits due to Harland by Pounds 3m.
ICI doesn't support continuing international efforts to reduce production of ozone-destroying chemicals, Mr. Henderson said.
In recent trade talks, the U.S. government demanded that Japan change aspects of its economy to help reduce its $49 billion trade surplus.
Rather than erecting trade barriers, the U.S. should work to reduce its budget deficit and increase savings and education, the study said.
China has refused to exclude the Khmer Rouge from a future Cambodian government but has said it is willing to reduce its assistance to the Khmer Rouge and other guerrilla forces as Vietnam pulls out.
That trend should help reduce global trade imbalances, including the United States' big trade deficit, and lead to more stable in foreign exchange rates, Waigel said.
He has acknowledged that a sharp reduction in Soviet oil shipments could force Cuba to replace tractors with mules, stop manufacturing adult clothing for five years and reduce bus service in Havana by two-thirds.
CBS reported a 73% drop in first-quarter profit and said it will reduce its work force this year by 6%, or about 400 jobs.
'We can service and reduce the debt out of the cashflow of the combined companies.
The Democratic presidential nominee invoked Truman's battling underdog memory across the Midwest as he pressed his argument that Bush is an elitist whose proposal to reduce the federal tax on capital gains would benefit primarily the wealthy.
Outside the administration, Mr. Baker's Keynesian critics have long urged devaluation as the only way to reverse the trade deficit; they're still waiting for the J-curve to kick in and reduce the deficit, despite two years of devaluation.
In an effort to reduce debt, Mesa also announced today the creation of a Hugoton Royalty Trust made up of Mesa's holdings in the Hugoton field in Kansas, the nation's largest natural gas field.
If competition were functioning effectively, one would expect price-cutting to reduce fees. There are two reasons why this does not happen.