*reduc*

a. 1. Incapable of being reduced, or brought into a different state; incapable of restoration to its proper or normal condition; as, an irreducible hernia. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Math.) Incapable of being reduced to a simpler form of expression; as, an irreducible formula. [ 1913 Webster ]

Irreducible case (Alg.), a particular case in the solution of a cubic equation, in which the formula commonly employed contains an imaginary quantity, and therefore fails in its application.

-- Ir`re*du"ci*ble*ness, n. -- -- Ir`re*du"ci*bly, adv. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Reduced p. pr. & vb. n. Reducing ] [ 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 ]

n. Reduction. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ L. reducens, p. pr. of reducere. ] Tending to reduce. -- n. A reducent agent. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who, or that which, reduces. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mach.) (a) A contrivance for reducing the dimensions of one part so as to fit it to another, as a reducing coupling, or a device for holding a drilling a chuck. (b) A reducing motion. (c) A reducing valve. (d) A hydraulic device for reducing pressure and hence increasing movement, used to transmit the load from the hydraulic support of the lower shackle to the lever weighing apparatus in some kinds of heavy testing machines. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

3. (Photog.) A reducing agent, either a developer or an agent for reducing density. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

4. (Chem.) a reducing agent. [ PJC ]

a. Capable of being reduced. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Quality of being reducible. [ 1913 Webster ]

a & n. from Reduce. [ 1913 Webster ]

Reducing furnace (Metal.), a furnace for reducing ores. --
Reducing pipe fitting, a pipe fitting, as a coupling, an elbow, a tee, etc., for connecting a large pipe with a smaller one. --
Reducing valve, a device for automatically maintaining a diminished pressure of steam, air, gas, etc., in a pipe, or other receiver, which is fed from a boiler or pipe in which the pressure is higher than is desired in the receiver. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Chem.) a substance that causes reduction of another substance in a chemical reaction, as by donating electrons or adding hydrogen atoms; as, lithium hydride is a powerful reducing agent. [ PJC ]

v. t. [ L. reductus, p. p. of reducere. See Reduce. ] To reduce. [ Obs. ] W. Warde. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The quality of being reducible; reducibleness. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. réduction, 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Arith. & Alg.) The act or process of reducing. See Reduce, v. t., 6. and To reduce an equation, To reduce an expression, under Reduce, v. t. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. The process of making a copy of something, as a figure, design, or draught, on a smaller scale, preserving the proper proportions. Fairholt. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Logic) The bringing of a syllogism in one of the so-called imperfect modes into a mode in the first figure. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. (Chem. & Metal.) The act, process, or result of reducing{ 7 }; as, the reduction of iron from its ores; the reduction of an aldehyde into an alcohol. [ 1913 Webster ]

7. (Med.) The operation of restoring a dislocated or fractured part to its former place. [ 1913 Webster ]

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. [ 1913 Webster ]

Syn. -- Diminution; decrease; abatement; curtailment; subjugation; conquest; subjection. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. réductif. ] Tending to reduce; having the power or effect of reducing. -- n. A reductive agent. Sir M. Hale. [ 1913 Webster ]