Adjacent Words

Reduction definitions

	Tweet

Webster's 1828 Dictionary

REDUC'TION, n. [L. reductio.]
1. The act of reducing, or state of being reduced; as the reduction of a body to powder; the reduction of things to order.
2. Diminution; as the reduction of the expenses of government; the reduction of the national debt.
3. Conquest; subjugation; as the reduction of a province to the power of a foreign nation.
4. In arithmetic, the bringing of numbers of different denominations into one denomination; as the reduction of pounds, ounces, pennyweights and grains to grains, or the reduction of grains to pounds; the reduction of days and hours to minutes, or of minutes to hours and days. The change of numbers of a higher denomination into a lower, as of pounds into pence or farthings, is called reduction descending; the change of numbers of a lower denomination into a higher, as of cents into dimes, dollars or eagles, is called reduction ascending. Hence the rule for bringing sums of different denominations into one denomination, is called reduction.
5. In algebra, reduction of equations is the clearing of them of all superfluous quantities, bringing them to their lowest terms and separating the known from the unknown, till the unknown quantity alone is found on one side, and the known ones of the other.
6. Reduction of a figure, men, etc. is the making of a copy of it on a smaller or larger scale, preserving the form and proportions.
7. In surgery, the operation of restoring a dislocated or fractured bone to its former place.
8. In metallurgy, the operation of bringing metallic substances which have been changed, or divested of their metallic form, into their natural and original state of metals. This is called also revivification.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: the act of decreasing or reducing something [syn: decrease, diminution, reduction, step-down] [ant: increase, step-up]
2: any process in which electrons are added to an atom or ion (as by removing oxygen or adding hydrogen); always occurs accompanied by oxidation of the reducing agent [syn: reduction, reducing]
3: the act of reducing complexity [syn: reduction, simplification]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: Middle English reduccion restoration, from Middle French reducion, from Late Latin & Latin; Late Latin reduction-, reductio reduction (in a syllogism), from Latin, restoration, from reducere Date: 15th century 1. the act or process of reducing ; the state of being reduced 2. a. something made by reducing b. the amount by which something is reduced 3. [Spanish reducción, from Latin reduction-, reductio] a South American Indian settlement directed by Jesuit missionaries 4. meiosis 2; specifically production of the gametic chromosome number in the first meiotic division • reductional adjective

U.S. Military Dictionary

The creation of lanes through a minefield or obstacle to allow passage of the attacking ground force. (JP 3-15)

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. 1 the act or an instance of reducing; the process of being reduced. 2 an amount by which prices etc. are reduced. 3 a reduced copy of a picture etc. 4 an arrangement of an orchestral score for piano etc. Derivatives: reductive adj. Etymology: ME f. OF reduction or L reductio (as REDUCE)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Reduction Re*duc"tion (r?*d?k"sh?n), n. [F. r['e]duction, L. reductio. See Reduce.] 1. The act of reducing, or state of being reduced; conversion to a given state or condition; diminution; conquest; as, the reduction of a body to powder; the reduction of things to order; the reduction of the expenses of government; the reduction of a rebellious province. 2. (Arith. & Alq.) The act or process of reducing. See Reduce, v. t., 6. and To reduce an equation, To reduce an expression, under Reduce, v. t. 3. (Astron.) (a) The correction of observations for known errors of instruments, etc. (b) The preparation of the facts and measurements of observations in order to deduce a general result. 4. The process of making a copy of something, as a figure, design, or draught, on a smaller scale, preserving the proper proportions. --Fairholt. 5. (Logic) The bringing of a syllogism in one of the so-called imperfect modes into a mode in the first figure. 6. (Chem. & Metal.) The act, process, or result of reducing; as, the reduction of iron from its ores; the reduction of aldehyde from alcohol. 7. (Med.) The operation of restoring a dislocated or fractured part to its former place. Reduction ascending (Arith.), the operation of changing numbers of a lower into others of a higher denomination, as cents to dollars. Reduction descending (Arith.), the operation of changing numbers of a higher into others of a lower denomination, as dollars to cents. Syn: Diminution; decrease; abatement; curtailment; subjugation; conquest; subjection.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(reductions) Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English. 1. When there is a reduction in something, it is made smaller. ...a future reduction in UK interest rates... ? increase N-COUNT: usu with supp 2. Reduction is the act of making something smaller in size or amount, or less in degree. ...a new strategic arms reduction agreement. N-UNCOUNT: usu with supp

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

n. 1. Conversion, resolution, transmutation. 2. Diminution, contraction, decrease, abridgment, lessening, retrenchment, abatement, decrement, curtailment, lowering. 3. Depression, detrusion, abasement, lowering. 4. Subjugation, conquest, subjection, mastery, subdual. 5. (Math.) Resolution, solution.

Moby Thesaurus

abasement, abatement, abbreviation, about-face, abridgment, abstract, acetification, acidification, acidulation, addition, agio, alchemy, alkalization, allayment, alleviation, allowance, analgesia, anesthesia, anesthetizing, apocope, appeasement, approximation, assimilation, assuagement, assumption, astriction, astringency, attenuation, attrition, bank discount, becoming, blunting, bottleneck, break, breakage, breaking, bump, bust, calming, carbonation, cash discount, casting down, catalysis, cervix, chain discount, change, change-over, charge-off, cheapening, chemicalization, circumscription, coarctation, compactedness, compaction, compression, compressure, concavity, concentration, concession, condensation, conquering, consolidation, conspectus, constriction, constringency, contraction, contracture, conversion, crushing, curtailment, cut, cutting, dampening, damping, de-escalation, deadening, debasement, debilitation, decline, decrease, decrement, decrescence, deduction, deflation, degradation, degrading, demotion, demulsion, depletion, depluming, depreciation, depression, derogation, descent, detraction, detrusion, devaluation, devitalization, differentiation, dilution, diminishment, diminuendo, diminution, dip, discount, disgrading, disparagement, displuming, dive, division, domestication, downgrading, drawback, ducking, dulcification, dulling, dying, dying off, ease, easement, easing, effemination, electrolysis, elision, ellipsis, enervation, enfeeblement, epitome, equation, evisceration, evolution, exhaustion, extenuation, extraction, extrapolation, fade-out, falling-off, fatigue, ferment, fermentation, flip-flop, foreshortening, growth, hauling down, hollowness, hourglass, hourglass figure, humbling, humiliation, hushing, hydrogenation, impairment, inanition, integration, interpolation, inversion, involution, isomerism, isthmus, kickback, knitting, languishment, lapse, leniency, lessening, letdown, letup, lightening, loosening, lowering, lulling, markdown, metamerism, metamerization, miniaturization, mitigation, modulation, mollification, multiplication, narrow place, narrowing, naturalization, neck, nitration, nose dive, notation, numbing, oxidation, oxidization, pacification, palliation, passage, penalty, penalty clause, percentage, phosphatization, plummet, plummeting, plunge, polymerism, polymerization, position isomerism, practice, precis, premium, price cut, price fall, price reduction, price-cut, progress, proportion, puckering, pursing, quelling, quietening, quieting, re-formation, rebate, rebatement, recap, recapitulation, reconversion, refund, relaxation, relief, remedy, remission, resolution, retraction, retrenchment, reversal, rollback, sag, sagging, salvage, salving, saturization, scaling down, setoff, shift, shortening, shrinkage, simplicity, sinking, slackening, slash, slump, softening, solidification, soothing, stranglement, strangulation, striction, stricture, stripping of rank, subdual, subduement, submergence, subtraction, summary, summation, suppression, switch, switch-over, syncope, synopsis, systole, taming, tare, telescoping, tempering, thinning, thrusting under, time discount, trade discount, tranquilization, transformation, transit, transition, treading down, tret, truncation, turning into, underselling, volte-face, wasp waist, weakening, working, wrinkling, write-off