reduce

verb19

1. •
   to bring the size, amount or strength of something down

   • to reduce weight, speed, heat, expenses, price, personnel etc.
2. •
   To lose weight.
3. •
   To decrease the liquid content of (a food) by boiling much of its water off.

   • Serve the oxtails with mustard or a sauce made by reducing the soup, if any is left, to a slightly thick sauce. — 2011
4. •
   To bring to an inferior rank; to degrade, to demote.

   • My father, the eldest son of an ancient but reduced family, left me with little. — 1815
5. •
   To bring to an inferior state or condition.

   • to reduce a city to ashes
6. •
   To be forced by circumstances (into something one considers unworthy).
7. •
   To add electrons / hydrogen or to remove oxygen.

   • Formaldehyde can be reduced to form methanol.
8. •
   To produce metal from ore by removing nonmetallic elements in a smelter.
9. •
   To simplify an equation or formula without changing its value.
10. •
    To express the solution of a problem in terms of another (known) algorithm.
11. •
    To convert a syllogism to a clearer or simpler form.
12. •
    To pronounce (a sound or word) with less effort.

    • The first vowel of support is reduced to schwa by most English speakers.
13. •
    To perform a reduction; to restore a fracture or dislocation to the correct alignment.
14. •
    To convert to written form. (Usage note: this verb almost always appears as “reduce to writing”.)

    • It is important that all business contracts be reduced to writing.
15. •
    To humble; to conquer; to subdue; to capture.
16. •
    To annul by legal means.
17. •
    To strike off the payroll.
18. •
    To reform a line or column from (a square).
19. •
    (no longer used) To translate (a book, document, etc.).

    • a book reduced into English