[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

reduce \reduce"\ r-ed=us", v. t. imp.  p. p. reduced
   -d=ust",; p. pr.  vb. n. reducing -d=u"si^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.
      1913 webster

            and to his brother's house reduced his wife.
                                                  --chapman.
      1913 webster

            the sheep must of necessity be scattered, unless the
            great shephered of souls oppose, or some of his
            delegates reduce and direct us.       --evelyn.
      1913 webster

   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.
      1913 webster

            nothing so excellent but a man may fasten upon
            something belonging to it, to reduce it.
                                                  --tillotson.
      1913 webster

            having reduced
            their foe to misery beneath their fears. --milton.
      1913 webster

            hester prynne was shocked at the condition to which
            she found the clergyman reduced.      --hawthorne.
      1913 webster

   3. to bring to terms; to humble; to conquer; to subdue; to
      capture; as, to reduce a province or a fort.
      1913 webster

   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.
      1913 webster

            it were but right
            and equal to reduce me to my dust.    --milton.
      1913 webster

   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.
      1913 webster

   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.
          1913 webster

   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.
      1913 webster

   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.
      1913 webster

   syn: to diminish; lessen; decrease; abate; shorten; curtail;
        impair; lower; subject; subdue; subjugate; conquer.
        1913 webster
see also:
reduced reducing duke redoubt oxidize reduced iron 
iron by hydrogen to reduce an equation to reduce an expression to reduce a square 

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

reduce
     v 1: cut down on; make a reduction in; "reduce your daily fat
          intake"; "the employer wants to cut back health
          benefits" syn: cut down, cut back, trim, trim
          down, trim back, cut, bring down
     2: make less complex; "reduce a problem to a single question"
     3: bring to humbler or weaker state or condition; "he reduced
        the population to slavery"
     4: simplify the form of a mathematical equation of expression
        by substituting one term for another
     5: lower in grade or rank or force somebody into an undignified
        situation; "she reduced her niece to a servant"
     6: be the essential element; "the proposal boils down to a
        compromise" syn: come down, boil down
     7: reduce in size; reduce physically; "hot water will shrink
        the sweater"; "can you shrink this image?" syn: shrink
     8: lessen and make more modest; "reduce one's standard of
        living"
     9: make smaller; "reduce an image" syn: scale down ant: blow
        up
     10: to remove oxygen from a compound, or cause to react with
         hydrogen or form a hydride, or to undergo an increase in
         the number of electrons syn: deoxidize, deoxidise
         ant: oxidize, oxidize
     11: narrow or limit; "reduce the influx of foreigners" syn: tighten
     12: put down by force or intimidation; "the government quashes
         any attempt of an uprising"; "china keeps down her
         dissidents very efficiently"; "the rich landowners
         subjugated the peasants working the land" syn: repress,
          quash, keep down, subdue, subjugate
     13: undergo meiosis; "the cells reduce"
     14: reposition a broken bone after surgery back to its normal
         site
     15: reduce in scope while retaining essential elements; "the
         manuscript must be shortened" syn: abridge, foreshorten,
          abbreviate, shorten, cut, contract ant: elaborate
     16: be cooked until very little liquid is left; "the sauce
         should reduce to one cup" syn: boil down, decoct, concentrate
     17: cook until very little liquid is left; "the cook reduced the
         sauce by boiling it for a long time" syn: boil down, concentrate
     18: lessen the strength or flavor of a solution or mixture; "cut
         bourbon" syn: dilute, thin, thin out, cut
     19: take off weight syn: melt off, lose weight, slim, slenderize,
          thin, slim down ant: gain
see also:
cut down cut back trim trim down trim back cut 
bring down come down boil down shrink scale down 
blow up deoxidize deoxidise oxidize tighten 
repress quash keep down subdue subjugate 
abridge foreshorten abbreviate shorten contract 
elaborate decoct concentrate dilute thin 
thin out melt off lose weight slim slenderize 
slim down gain 

[3] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

404 moby thesaurus words for "reduce":
   abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abrade, abridge, abstract,
   acetify, acidify, acidulate, adjust, adjust to, adulterate,
   afflict, alkalify, alkalize, allay, alleviate, allow, alter,
   analyze, anatomize, anesthetize, appease, apportion, assay,
   assimilate to, assuage, attemper, attenuate, bank the fire,
   bankrupt, baptize, bate, bear down, beat down, become, beggar,
   belittle, bend, benumb, blunt, bob, boil down, borate, box in,
   break, break down, break up, bring down, bring low, bring to,
   bring to terms, bump, bust, capsulize, carbonate, catalyze, change,
   change into, change over, charge off, chasten, cheapen, chemical,
   chlorinate, circumscribe, clip, coarct, compact, compress,
   concentrate, condense, condition, conquer, consolidate, constrain,
   constrict, constringe, contract, control, convert, couch, count,
   count calories, cramp, cripple, crop, crush, curtail, cushion, cut,
   cut back, cut down, cut off short, cut prices, cut short, damp,
   dampen, de-emphasize, deaden, deaden the pain, debase, debilitate,
   decline, decrease, deduct, deflate, degrade, demean, demote,
   deplume, depreciate, depress, derange, derogate, detract, detrude,
   devaluate, devitalize, diet, dilute, diminish, disable, discount,
   disgrade, disorder, disparage, displume, dissect, distill, dive,
   divide, do over, dock, downbear, downgrade, downplay, drain, draw,
   draw in, draw together, drop, dull, dump, dump on, ease,
   ease matters, eat away, electrolyze, elide, enervate, enfeeble,
   epitomize, erode, eviscerate, exhaust, extenuate, extract, fall,
   fall in price, fell, ferment, file away, fix, flatten, foment,
   foreshorten, give relief, give way, grind, gruel, haul down, hedge,
   hedge about, homopolymerize, hospitalize, humble, humiliate,
   hydrate, hydrogenate, hydroxylate, impair, impoverish, increase,
   indent, indispose, invalid, irrigate, isomerize, jew down,
   keep within bounds, kick back, knit, knock down, lay, lay low,
   lay up, leach, leaven, lenify, lessen, let down, let up on,
   lighten, limit, lose flesh, lose weight, lower, lull, make,
   make allowance, make over, mark down, master, measure, minimize,
   mitigate, moderate, modify, modulate, mollify, mow, narrow,
   naturalize, nip, nitrate, nose-dive, numb, number, obtund,
   overmaster, override, oversimplify, overwhelm, oxidize, pad,
   palliate, parcel, pare, pauperize, pepsinate, peroxidize,
   phosphatize, play down, plummet, plunge, poll, pollard, polymerize,
   poultice, pour balm into, pour oil on, powder, press down,
   prostrate, prune, pucker, pucker up, pull down, pulp, purify,
   purse, push down, put down, qualify, quantify, quantize, quell,
   rarefy, rate, rattle, reap, rebate, recap, recapitulate, reconvert,
   reduce the temperature, reduce to, reduce to elements,
   reduce weight, refine, refund, regulate by, relieve, remove,
   render, reset, resolve, resolve into, restrain, restrict, retrench,
   reverse, ride down, roll back, rub, rub away, sag, salve, sap,
   scale down, season, segment, separate, set, set conditions,
   set down, set limits, shake, shake up, shave, shear, shift,
   shorten, sicken, simplify, sink, slacken, slake, slash, slenderize,
   slim, slim down, slow down, slump, smash, smother, snub, sober,
   sober down, soften, soften up, solidify, soothe, step down, stifle,
   strangle, strangulate, streamline, strip down, strip of rank,
   stunt, stupe, subdivide, subduct, subdue, subjugate, subtract,
   sulfate, sulfatize, sulfonate, sum up, summarize, suppress, switch,
   switch over, synopsize, take a premium, take away, take down,
   take from, take in, take off, take off weight, tame, telescope,
   temper, thin, thin down, thin out, thrust down, tone down,
   trample down, trample underfoot, transform, tread underfoot, trim,
   trip up, triturate, truncate, tune down, turn, turn back,
   turn into, tyrannize, unbrace, undermine, underplay, unman,
   unnerve, unstrengthen, unstring, vanquish, water, water down,
   weaken, wear away, weed, weight-watch, withdraw, work, wrinkle,
   write off

[4] : The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03)

reduce
     
         a symbolic mathematics language with
        algol-like syntax, written in lisp by anthony hearn in
        1963.
     
        reduce 2 is a version based on portable standard lisp.
     
        home http://www.rrz.uni-koeln.de/reduce/.
     
        e-mail: .
     
        server: reduce-netlib@rand.org.
     
        "reduce, software for algebraic computation", g. rayna,
        springer 1987.
     
        1994-10-31
     
     
see also:
symbolic mathematics algol syntax lisp portable standard lisp lt;homegt; 

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