- 减少；缩小；削减，缩减；精简：
They have to reduce expenses this year.
他们今年必须削减开支。
- 降低；减轻：
She tried to reduce her weight.
她设法降低她的体重。
- 将…归纳；简化：
We can reduce his speech to three sentences.
我们可以把他的讲演归纳成三句话。
- 换算；折合：
If you reduce 3 lbs. to ounces, you have 48 ounces.
如果将3磅换算成盎司，可得48盎司。
- 使变为：
The heavy artillery bombardment reduced the village to ruins.
猛烈的炮火使这个村庄变成一片废墟。
His words reduced her to silence.
他的话使她哑口无言。
- 把…弄碎(或熔化等)；捣碎：
Their daily work is to reduce the rocks to dust.
他们每天的工作就是将岩石捣碎成粉末。
- 使降级；使降职：
He was reduced to ordinary soldier due to a serious dereliction of duty.
他因严重失职被降为普通士兵。
- 降服(使有秩序等)；攻陷(城市等)：
The teacher soon reduced the noisy class to order.
教师很快就使这个乱哄哄的班恢复了秩序。
The fortress at the entrance to the village was reduced by a sudden attack.
村口的堡垒遭到突然袭击而被攻陷。
- 使处境困难(或悲惨等)；迫使，逼迫[常用被动语态]：
The bad harvests in the last few years reduced the peasants to extreme poverty.
过去几年的庄稼歉收使农民变得极为贫困。
Poverty reduced them to begging for a living.
贫困迫使他们乞讨为生。
- 使变弱；使变瘦；使衰退：
He is reduced to skin and bones.
他变得骨瘦如柴。
- 约束；限制：
Business was reduced to local buying and selling when the war broke out and international trading ceased.
战争爆发国际贸易停止后，商业就只限于地方性的买卖了。
- 【数学】约简：
The last problem is to reduce an equation to its simplest form.
最后一道题是将一方程式化简为最简单形式。
- 使…浓缩变稠：
The last step is to add some salt and reduce the soup for three minutes.
最后一个步骤是加些盐然后使汤浓缩三分钟。
- (用油)调稀(或冲淡)：
We can use this special oil to reduce the thick paint to a liquid thin enough to spread easily .
我们可以使用这种特殊的油将浓油漆稀释一下，使它刷起来比较省力。
- 【化学】还原；分解(化合物)：
Water can be reduced to oxygen and hydrogen by electrolysis.
水通过电解可以分解为氧和氢。
- 【外科学】使…复位(或复原)：
A doctor can reduce a fracture or dislocation.
医生能使骨折或脱臼复原。
- 【语音学】使(重读元音)弱化：
Some English vowel sounds which are not given weight in speech become reduced to a rather formless central vowel.
英语中有些元音在讲话时没有重读，结果成了相当不定型的中央元音了。
- 【摄影术】减低(底片的)强度
- 【生理学】使(细胞)发生减数分裂