reduction

noun re·duc·tion \ ri-ˈdək-shən \

|Updated on: 8 Jun 2018

Examples: reduction in a Sentence

Definition of reduction

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

[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

play \ri-ˈdək-shnəl, -shə-nᵊl\ adjective

See reduction defined for English-language learners

See reduction defined for kids

Examples of reduction in a Sentence

a drastic reduction in size
Many voters want to see some reduction of the deficit.
There is a 20 percent reduction on selected items during this sale.

Recent Examples of reduction from the Web

Privacy - Terms Earlier Tuesday, the commission approved customer-bill reductions tied to FPL’s benefits from the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, the federal tax overhaul signed in December by President Donald Trump.

— jim turner, miamiherald, "Monthly FPL bills to go down slightly," 5 June 2018
But the district’s recent history also includes a few episodes when there was no rescue — and massive layoffs and program reductions followed.

— jessica calefati, latimes.com, "Why L.A. Unified may face financial crisis even with a giant surplus this year," 4 June 2018
All told, the plan would require the state to make more than $500 million in reductions from the original version of the budget passed by the House.

— julia o'donoghue, NOLA.com, "Louisiana Legislature passes skeleton budget that cuts TOPS, higher ed," 4 June 2018
Those reductions would hit TOPS, college campuses and an array of departments, but health care services would be shielded from the slashing.

— melinda deslatte, The Seattle Times, "Louisiana Senate backs budget, $540M in taxes to finance it," 3 June 2018
Friends of the Earth releases an annual Cruise Ship Report Card, and often gives failing and near-failing grades to major cruise lines for sewage treatment, air pollution reduction and water-quality compliance among their fleets.

— San Francisco Chronicle, "federal laws didn’t prohibit discharges into the sanctuary," 2 June 2018
These fuel reduction burns began Friday and are expected to run most days until June 15.

— kayla fitzgerald, sacbee, "That smoke near Cal Expo? Here's why you may be seeing more of it over the next few weeks," 1 June 2018
Chiffer taught dance classes to members of the Council on Aging, led educational workshops about brain health and dementia risk reduction, and created a dementia literacy curriculum for the local high school’s health program.

— julia preszler, BostonGlobe.com, "Dancing for memory, a clothing drive, and a new restaurant," 1 June 2018
Financial penalties—or, for more severe violations, draft-pick reductions—are handed down to teams that do.

— chris johnson, SI.com, "Kyler Murray's Baseball and Football Careers Converge for an Intriguing Summer at Oklahoma," 1 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'reduction.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of reduction

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

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 15th century

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year