to lower the price of something to make something smaller or lower verbto make something smaller or lower ExamplesWe must reduce expenditure if we want to stay in business. • They have reduced prices in all departments. • We were expecting the government to reduce taxes not to increase them. • We have made some employees redundant to reduce overstaffing. • The company reduced output because of a fall in demand. • The government's policy is to reduce inflation to 5 per cent.Usageto reduce staffto make employees redundant in order to have a smaller number of staffto lower the price of something ExampleCarpets have been reduced from £100 to £50.