Meaning of reduction in English

reduction

noun

/rɪˈdʌk.ʃən/ uk

/rɪˈdʌk.ʃən/

reduction noun (MAKING SMALLER)

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B2 [ C or U ]

the act of making something, or of something becoming, smaller in size, amount, degree, importance, etc.:

reduction in There has been a worrying reduction in the number of students taking science classes in college.

price reduction There is a huge price reduction of 40% on all sale items.

Thesaurus: synonyms, antonyms, and examples

the fact of getting smaller or becoming less

decreaseThere has been a steady decrease in the number of visitors.
fallA fall in the price of petrol is unlikely.
fall-offThere's been a sharp fall-off in demand for the product since the company's scandal broke.
falling-offThere has been a slight falling-off in public sector employment growth.

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[ C ]

a copy of a photograph, picture, etc. that is smaller than the original one

More examplesFewer examples

The treaty has led to a dramatic reduction in the number of land-based missiles in Europe.
Stiffening competition in the market has led to a reduction in the company's profits this year.
The reduction in funds is throttling the development of new programs.
The airline halved its overseas service because of a sharp reduction in traffic.
The Green Party have called for a substantial reduction in the emission of greenhouse gases by the U.K.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Becoming and making smaller or less

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reduction noun (CHEMISTRY)

[ U ] chemistry specialized

the addition of one or more electrons to a chemical element:

Oxidation, the loss of electrons, is always accompanied by reduction, the gain of the same electrons.

SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Chemistry - general words

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reduction noun (MEDICAL)

[ C or U ] medical specialized

the act of putting a broken bone or another part of the body back into its correct position:

Reduction of the fracture corrects and maintains alignment.

The displaced fracture required open reduction and internal plate fixation, together with dental wire to stabilize the front teeth.

the reduction of a dislocated shoulder

The technology allows surgeons to visualize fracture reductions.

(Definition of reduction from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

reduction | Business English

reduction

noun

/rɪˈdʌkʃən/ us

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[ C or U ]

the process of making something less in price, size, amount, etc., or the fact of it becoming less:

a reduction in sth The cutbacks have required a 10% reduction in staff numbers.

Policyholders will be preparing themselves for further reductions in bonuses on maturing policies.

a dramatic/significant/substantial reduction I was warned of a significant reduction in the projected payout.

a gradual/slight/steady reduction

debt/deficit/spending reduction The emphasis is on long-term debt reduction.

rate/tariff/tax reduction Banks have announced mortgage rate reductions to bolster the housing market.

poverty reduction

emissions/greenhouse gas reductions

cost reduction programs/targets

[ C ] COMMERCE

an amount by which the price of something is reduced:

to get/make a reduction on sth I got a reduction on the skirt because there was a button missing.

big/massive reductions Stores are offering big reductions this weekend.

(Definition of reduction from the Cambridge Business English Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of reduction

reduction

Do you expect to see a sudden reduction in your standard of living?

From International Business Times

In such cases, you're actually better off buying the phone yourself, as you're getting a $25 bill reduction but giving up only $18.75 in subsidies.

From NBCNews.com

Reduction in dollars could mean that it would take longer to investigate complaints.

From Plain Dealer

We drive on average between a 2 and 3% reduction across, now, millions of homes.

From CNN

For some of these cancers, the reduction in death was remarkable.

From NPR

One of the ways states can meet their carbon reduction goals is to increase their use of energy efficiency targets and renewable energy.

From ThinkProgress

That reduction, combined with a 5 percent cut last year, would produce savings of $28 million.

From Huffington Post

Even when purchased on the black market, regardless of the intentions of the user, the medication works as intended -- as harm reduction.

From Huffington Post

Both "r" words -- reduction and reform -- must be covered as we try to control spending for the long term and attack this budget deficit.

From The Star-Ledger - NJ.com

Transportation and efficiency improvements have seen the greatest impact in emissions reductions.

From ThinkProgress

This does not automatically mean that law enforcement agencies will see reductions in their budgets.

From Heritage.org

The biggest category of reductions will likely be the most controversial.

From The Star-Ledger - NJ.com

He has seen a dramatic reduction in daily seizures, giving him an opportunity to make-up some cognitive development.

From Minneapolis Star Tribune

But a reduction in bees means a dwindling of a culture of beekeeping and bee products, he added.

From Voice of America

These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

Collocations with reduction

reduction

These are words often used in combination with reduction.

Click on a collocation to see more examples of it.

across-the-board reduction

Firms are the only winners, now earning higher profits because of their ability to outsource and the across-the-board reduction in wages.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

additional reduction

Call-by-name does no reduction, call-by-value reduces until the argument reaches a weak head normal form, and our closed strategy does additional reduction.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

automatic reduction

Amongst such measures, he proposes the automatic reduction of quotas.

From Europarl Parallel Corpus - English

See all collocations with reduction

What is the pronunciation of reduction?

Translations of reduction

in Chinese (Traditional)

減少, 減小, 降低…

Meaning of reduction in English

reduction noun (MAKING SMALLER)

reduction noun (CHEMISTRY)

reduction noun (MEDICAL)

reduction | Business English

Examples of reduction

Collocations with reduction

reduction

Translations of reduction

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