To reduce means to make something smaller, less, or fewer. When you reduce the volume on your TV, you turn it down. When a store reduces its prices, items cost less than before. When your teacher asks you to reduce the number of words in your essay, you need to cut some out.

Reducing brings something back to a smaller state. A fraction like 6/8 can be reduced to 3/4 by dividing both numbers by 2. A complicated math problem can sometimes be reduced to simpler steps that are easier to solve.

In science, you might hear about reducing pollution or reducing waste. The three Rs of environmental care are reduce, reuse, and recycle, with reduce listed first because using less in the first place is the most effective solution.

When cooks reduce a sauce, they boil it down so water evaporates and the flavor becomes more concentrated. The sauce gets smaller in volume but stronger in taste. This shows how reducing isn't always about making something weaker, just about removing what isn't needed to get to what matters most.