# reduction

Pronunciation: US say "ri-DUK-shun" /ɹɪˈdʌkʃən/; UK

## Noun

1. The act, process, or result of making something smaller or less in size, amount, or degree.
   - Simple: The act of making something smaller, fewer, or lower in amount.
   - _The company announced a significant reduction in carbon emissions over five years._
   - _A reduction in staffing levels followed the merger._
2. The amount or rate by which something is decreased, especially in price.
   - Simple: The amount that something goes down by, often in price.
   - _The reduction on the discounted appliances reached nearly forty percent._
   - _Negotiators agreed on a reduction of two hundred jobs across the division._
3. A lowered price arrived at by taking off a fraction or decimal of the original.
   - Simple: A lower price, found by taking part of the full price off.
   - _Shoppers saw a reduction applied at the register on all marked items._
   - _The reduction brought the laptop down to three-quarters of its list price._
4. A chemical reaction in which a substance gains electrons and its valence decreases, often by removing oxygen or adding hydrogen.
   - Simple: A chemical change in which a substance gains electrons.
   - _The reduction of the copper salt deposited a thin layer of pure metal on the electrode._
   - _Chemists tracked the reduction by measuring how quickly the iron gained electrons._
5. The process of boiling a sauce quickly to drive off water and concentrate its flavor.
   - Simple: Boiling a sauce fast so it gets thicker and stronger in taste.
   - _A balsamic reduction added a sweet, thick glaze to the roasted vegetables._
   - _The cook simmered the stock into a glossy reduction for the sauce._
6. The rewriting of a mathematical expression into a simpler or more basic form.
   - Simple: Rewriting a math problem in a shorter, simpler form.
   - _The reduction of the fraction to its lowest terms gave three-fifths._
   - _Students practiced the reduction of complex expressions before solving the equation._
7. A medical procedure that restores a fractured or dislocated bone to its correct alignment, usually without surgery but sometimes with it.
   - Simple: A medical procedure that puts a broken or dislocated bone back in place.
   - _The surgeon scheduled a reduction to realign the displaced fracture._
   - _A closed reduction returned the dislocated finger to its normal position._
8. In computer science and mathematics, a way of converting one problem into another, as in mapping or polynomial-time reductions.
   - Simple: A way of changing one problem into another to help solve it.
   - _The proof relied on a reduction from a known hard problem._
   - _A polynomial-time reduction mapped each instance to the other problem efficiently._
9. An arrangement of a musical work for a far smaller number of performers, such as a keyboard solo based on a full opera.
   - Simple: A version of a piece of music written for fewer players or instruments.
   - _The piano reduction let a single player rehearse the entire orchestral score._
   - _The conductor studied a reduction of the opera before the first rehearsal._
10. A philosophical procedure intended to reveal the objects of consciousness as pure phenomena.
   - Simple: A way of thinking that sets aside assumptions to study experience as it appears.
   - _Husserl's reduction brackets the question of whether the world exists outside the mind._
   - _The reduction directs attention to the way an object appears in experience._
11. The ratio of a material's change in thickness to its thickness before forging or rolling.
   - Simple: How much thinner a metal gets after being pressed or rolled.
   - _The mill recorded a reduction of forty percent after the final rolling pass._
   - _A high reduction strengthened the sheet but made it harder to bend._
12. A religious settlement founded by Spanish or Portuguese colonists during a mission to convert the local population to Christianity.
   - Simple: A town set up by Spanish or Portuguese settlers to teach Christianity to local people.
   - _The Jesuits governed the reduction, organizing daily labor and religious instruction._
   - _Each reduction housed hundreds of converts within its walls._

## Origin

From Middle English reduccion, borrowed from Old French reducion, from Latin reductiō, reductiōnem. It is equivalent to 'reduce' plus the suffix '-tion'.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/reduction (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).