reduction

noun

USri-DUK-shun/ɹɪˈdʌkʃən/

12 meanings of reduction

1
nouncountable or uncountable
The act of making something smaller, fewer, or lower in amount.
Like letting air out of a balloon so it gets smaller.
The factory promised a big reduction in waste this year.
Doctors recommended a slow reduction in his medication.
Similardecrease, cut, decline, drop, lowering
Oppositeincrease, rise, growth
Note
2
nouncountable
The amount that something goes down by, often in price.
Like the dollars that come off a price tag during a sale.
The store gave us a reduction of ten dollars on the boots.
The reduction in his weekly hours was about five.
Similardiscount, cut, markdown
Oppositeincrease
Note
3
nouncountable
A lower price, found by taking part of the full price off.
Like a coupon that takes some money off what you pay.
The summer sale gave a reduction on every pair of shoes.
With the reduction, the dress cost half its first price.
Similardiscount, markdown
Oppositemarkup
4
nouncountable or uncountable
A chemical change in which a substance gains electrons.
Like a sponge soaking up water, but here a substance soaks up electrons.
During the experiment, the reduction of the metal ion produced a bright deposit.
Adding hydrogen caused a reduction that changed the color of the solution.
Oppositeoxidation
Note
5
nouncountable
Boiling a sauce fast so it gets thicker and stronger in taste.
Like leaving soup on the stove until it gets thick and tastes stronger.
The chef made a tasty reduction from the leftover wine.
We poured the rich reduction over the steak.
Similarglaze
Note
6
nouncountable or uncountable
Rewriting a math problem in a shorter, simpler form.
Like shortening a long sentence to say the same thing with fewer words.
The reduction of the fraction gave us one-half.
After a quick reduction, the equation looked much simpler.
Similarsimplification
Oppositeexpansion
Note
7
nouncountable
A medical procedure that puts a broken or dislocated bone back in place.
Like fitting two broken pieces of a stick back together so they line up.
The doctor performed a reduction to set the broken arm.
After the reduction, the shoulder went back into place.
Similarsetting
Note
8
nouncountable
A way of changing one problem into another to help solve it.
Like solving a new riddle by turning it into one you already cracked.
The reduction turned the hard puzzle into one they already knew how to solve.
Using a clever reduction, they showed both problems were really the same.
Note
9
nouncountable
A version of a piece of music written for fewer players or instruments.
Like a short picture-book version of a long story, made for one reader.
The pianist played a reduction of the famous symphony.
She practiced a reduction so one player could perform the whole opera.
Similararrangement, transcription
Note
10
nouncountable
A way of thinking that sets aside assumptions to study experience as it appears.
Like closing your eyes to focus only on a sound, ignoring everything else.
The philosopher used a reduction to focus only on what he experienced.
Through a careful reduction, she studied the feeling itself, not its causes.
Note
11
nouncountable
How much thinner a metal gets after being pressed or rolled.
Like rolling dough flatter and measuring how much thinner it gets.
The reduction on the steel bar was nearly half its thickness.
Each pass through the rollers gave a small reduction.
Note
12
nounhistoricalcountable
A town set up by Spanish or Portuguese settlers to teach Christianity to local people.
Like a small village built so one teacher could reach everyone in one place.
The priests built a reduction near the river to gather the local families.
Many people lived and worked at the reduction under the missionaries.
Similarmission
Note

Practice

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Origin

From Latin reductiō, which came into English through Old French. It combines 'reduce' and '-tion'.