▪ I. reducing, vbl. n.
(rɪˈdjuːsɪŋ)
[-ing1.]
1. a. The action of the vb. reduce in various senses; reduction.
| ? 1488 Caxton Ryall Bk. (Colophon), Whyche translacon or reducyng..was achyeved fynysshed and accomplysshed the xiii day of Septembre. 1591 Percivall Sp. Dict., Reduzimiento, bringing backe, reducing. 1646 Massey in H. Cary Mem. Gt. Civ. War (1842) I. 90, I made an humble request..on behalf of..my brigade, upon a report made unto me of some command for the reducing of them. 1683 Cave Ecclesiastici, Athanasius 53 They had done it in order to the reducing and reclaiming of him. 1720 Lond. Gaz. No. 5813/1 To facilitate the reducing of Palermo. 1790 Beatson Nav. & Mil. Mem. I. 106 Although the reducing of the Havannah was strongly recommended by his Majesty's instructions, yet..success could not now be looked for. 1863 Dana Man. Geol. 558 The reducing of the level of the rivers. |
b. Const.
to,
into.
| 1489 Rolls of Parlt. VI. 434/2 For the reducyng of the said monastery into the old auncyen order. 1532 Cromwell in Merriman Life & Lett. (1902) I. 349 For the reducing of the same his vntrew purpose to effecte. 1596 Spenser State Irel. Wks. (Globe) 646/1 The reducing of such a greate people to Christianitye. 1607 T. Rogers 39 Art. Ded. ¶2 marg., Praiers..for the reducing of true religion into the realme. 1645 Milton Colast. Wks. (1851) 358 The reducing of a minde to this or that fitnes. 1711 Fingall MSS. in 10th Rep. Hist. MSS. Comm. App. V. 197 The reduceing of them to mendicancy and hard shifts of liveing. |
2. attrib. and
Comb., as
reducing action,
reducing enterprise; (in sense 26 e of the
vb.)
reducing belt,
reducing pill,
reducing treatment;
reducing box (see
quot.);
reducing compasses, compasses adapted for copying figures on a smaller scale;
reducing coupling or
piece, a pipe-coupling with ends of different diameters, used in joining pipes of different sizes;
reducing gear = reduction gear s.v. reduction 13;
reducing machine, an apparatus for producing scale models;
reducing scale (see
quot.);
reducing valve, a valve serving to reduce the pressure in a steam-engine;
reducing works, a place at which metallic ore is reduced.
Also
reducing furnace,
press,
square,
tee (see Knight
Dict. Mech.). In
reducing action,
effect,
power, etc., the
vbl. n. can hardly be distinguished from the
ppl. adj.| 1889 Anthony's Photogr. Bull. II. 151 This *reducing action may produce a sub-oxide, sub-chloride, etc. |
| 1928 A. Huxley Point Counter Point v. 69 No idea how comfortable those rubber *reducing belts are till you've tried them. |
| 1894 Labour Commission Gloss., *Reducing boxes, the machines in which the operation before roving is performed by female labour. |
| 1823–5 Fosbroke Encycl. Antiq. ix. (1843) 294/1 A pair of *reducing compasses, which have, like ours, four points, forming two angles,..one large, the other small. |
| 1877 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 185 The final results of several mining and *reducing enterprises..are very discouraging. |
| 1917 E. Butler Transmission Gears iii. 66 The first use of a planetary *reducing gear as a transmission between a petrol motor and the driving wheel of an automobile, was made in 1888–9 by Edward Butler on his petrol cycle. |
| 1947 J. C. Rich Materials & Methods of Sculpture vi. 191 In using platinum or palladium for medals, the original model is first cast in a hard bronze, and by means of a *reducing machine a small steel die is cut of the precise size of the medal. With this die the copies are struck. 1968 Canad. Antiques Collector July 10/1 Benjamin Cheverton's ‘reducing machine’ had been employed for the scale model. This ingenious machine kept proportions exact, so that a six-inch statuette would lose nothing of the artistry of the original. |
| 1901 Feilden's Mag. IV. 432/1 There would be a good many special pieces used, such as..12-in. to 9-in. *reducing pieces, besides many bends. |
| 1955 W. Gaddis Recognitions ii. vii. 608 I'm taking scads of these marvelous *reducing pills that simply take your appetite away. |
| 1701 Moxon Math. Instr. 17 *Reducing Scale,..a thin broad piece of Box with several different Scales of equal Parts, and Lines to turn Chains and Links into Acres and Roods, by Inspection. |
| 1907 F. H. Burnett Shuttle xix. 195 Mina is growing fat, and spends her days in taking *reducing treatments. |
| 1884 Knight Dict. Mech. Suppl. 746/2 *Reducing Valve. 1889 Nature 24 Oct. 631 The pressure..is controlled by means of a reducing-valve. |
| 1859 Jrnl. Geog. Soc. XXX. 48 Several owners of smelting and *reducing works. 1877 Raymond Statist. Mines & Mining 281 As yet there are no reducing-works on the spot. |
▪ II. reˈducing, ppl. a. [f. as prec. + -ing2.] That reduces, in senses of the
vb.| 1741 tr. Cramer's Assaying 42 Borax..is classed, though improperly, among reducing Bodies, that is, among those which restore Metals, howsoever destroyed, to their metallick Form. Ibid. 185 Melting Metals and Ores together with saline and reducing Fluxes. 1805–17 R. Jameson Char. Min. (ed. 3) 299 Reducing Agents..either abstract oxygen from the mineral, or protect it from the action of that gas. 1836 T. Thomson Mineral., Geol., etc. I. 599 In the reducing flame it [disulphuret of copper] becomes covered with a coat and does not melt. 1897 Allbutt's Syst. Med. II. 77 The reducing remedies..have been strongly recommended. |