The difference between Increase and Reduce

When used as verbs, increase means (of a quantity, etc.) to become larger or greater, whereas reduce means to bring down the size, quantity, quality, value or intensity of something.

Increase is also noun with the meaning: an amount by which a quantity is increased.

check bellow for the other definitions of Increase and Reduce

  1. Increase as a verb (intransitive):

    (of a quantity, etc.) To become larger or greater.

    Examples:

    "His rage only increased when I told him of the lost money."

  2. Increase as a verb (transitive):

    To make (a quantity, etc.) larger.

  3. Increase as a verb:

    To multiply by the production of young; to be fertile, fruitful, or prolific.

  4. Increase as a verb (astronomy, intransitive):

    To become more nearly full; to show more of the surface; to wax.

    Examples:

    "The Moon increases."

  1. Increase as a noun:

    An amount by which a quantity is increased.

  2. Increase as a noun:

    For a quantity, the act or process of becoming larger

  3. Increase as a noun (knitting):

    The creation of one or more new stitches; see .

  1. Reduce as a verb (transitive):

    To bring down the size, quantity, quality, value or intensity of something; to diminish, to lower, to impair.

    Examples:

    "to reduce weight, speed, heat, expenses, price, personnel etc."

  2. Reduce as a verb (intransitive):

    To lose weight.

  3. Reduce as a verb (transitive):

    To bring to an inferior rank; to degrade, to demote.

    Examples:

    "to reduce a sergeant to the ranks"

  4. Reduce as a verb (transitive):

    To humble; to conquer; to subdue; to capture.

    Examples:

    "to reduce a province or a fort"

  5. Reduce as a verb (transitive):

    To bring to an inferior state or condition.

    Examples:

    "to reduce a city to ashes"

  6. Reduce as a verb (transitive, cooking):

    To decrease the liquid content of food by boiling much of its water off.

  7. Reduce as a verb (transitive, chemistry):

    To add electrons / hydrogen or to remove oxygen.

  8. Reduce as a verb (transitive, metallurgy):

    To produce metal from ore by removing nonmetallic elements in a smelter.

  9. Reduce as a verb (transitive, mathematics):

    To simplify an equation or formula without changing its value.

  10. Reduce as a verb (transitive, computer science):

    To express the solution of a problem in terms of another (known) algorithm.

  11. Reduce as a verb (transitive, logic):

    To convert a syllogism to a clearer or simpler form

  12. Reduce as a verb (transitive, legal):

    To convert to written form (Usage note: this verb almost always take the phrase "to writing").

    Examples:

    "It is important that all business contracts be reduced to writing."

  13. Reduce as a verb (transitive, medicine):

    To perform a reduction; to restore a fracture or dislocation to the correct alignment.

  14. Reduce as a verb (transitive, military):

    To reform a line or column from (a square).

  15. Reduce as a verb (transitive, obsolete):

    To translate (a book, document, etc.).

    Examples:

    "a book reduced into English"

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