What's the difference between reduce and shorten?

Reduce


Definition:

  • (n.) To bring or lead back to any former place or condition.
  • (n.) To bring to any inferior state, with respect to rank, size, quantity, quality, value, etc.; to diminish; to lower; to degrade; to impair; as, to reduce a sergeant to the ranks; to reduce a drawing; to reduce expenses; to reduce the intensity of heat.
  • (n.) To bring to terms; to humble; to conquer; to subdue; to capture; as, to reduce a province or a fort.
  • (n.) To bring to a certain state or condition by grinding, pounding, kneading, rubbing, etc.; as, to reduce a substance to powder, or to a pasty mass; to reduce fruit, wood, or paper rags, to pulp.
  • (n.) To bring into a certain order, arrangement, classification, etc.; to bring under rules or within certain limits of descriptions and terms adapted to use in computation; as, to reduce animals or vegetables to a class or classes; to reduce a series of observations in astronomy; to reduce language to rules.
  • (n.) To change, as numbers, from one denomination into another without altering their value, or from one denomination into others of the same value; as, to reduce pounds, shillings, and pence to pence, or to reduce pence to pounds; to reduce days and hours to minutes, or minutes to days and hours.
  • (n.) To change the form of a quantity or expression without altering its value; as, to reduce fractions to their lowest terms, to a common denominator, etc.
  • (n.) To bring to the metallic state by separating from impurities; hence, in general, to remove oxygen from; to deoxidize; to combine with, or to subject to the action of, hydrogen; as, ferric iron is reduced to ferrous iron; or metals are reduced from their ores; -- opposed to oxidize.
  • (n.) To restore to its proper place or condition, as a displaced organ or part; as, to reduce a dislocation, a fracture, or a hernia.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) There was appreciable variation in toothbrush wear among subjects, some reducing their brush to a poor state in 2 weeks whereas with others the brush was rated as "good" after 10 weeks.
  • (2) Disease stabilisation was associated with prolonged periods of comparatively high plasma levels of drug, which appeared to be determined primarily by reduced drug clearance.
  • (3) These included bringing in the A* grade, reducing the number of modules from six to four, and a greater attempt to assess the whole course at the end.
  • (4) It is concluded that amlodipine reduces myocardial ischemic injury by mechanism(s) that may involve a reduction in myocardial oxygen demand as well as by positively influencing transmembrane Ca2+ fluxes during ischemia and reperfusion.
  • (5) Open field behaviors and isolation-induced aggression were reduced by anxiolytics, at doses which may be within the sedative-hypnotic range.
  • (6) With aging, the blood vessel wall becomes hyperreactive--presumably because of an augmented vasoconstrictor and a reduced vasodilator responsiveness.
  • (7) In addition, DDT blocked succinate dehydrogenase and the cytochrome b-c span of the electron transport chain, which also secondarily reduced ATP synthesis.
  • (8) Although Jeggo's Chinese hamster ovary cells were more responsive to mAMSA, novo still abrogated mAMSA toxicity in the mutant cells as well as in the parental Chinese hamster ovary cells 2,4-Dinitrophenol acted similarly to novo with respect to mAMSA killing, but neither compound reduced the ATP content of V79 cells.
  • (9) At pH 7.0, reduction is complete after 6 to 10 h. These results together with an earlier study concerning the positions of the two most readily reduced bonds (Cornell J.S., and Pierce, J.G.
  • (10) Methanosphaera stadtmanae reduces methanol to CH4 in a similar way as Methanosarcina barkeri.
  • (11) There is no evidence that health-maintenance organizations reduce admissions in discretionary or "unnecessary" categories; instead, the data suggest lower admission rates across the board.
  • (12) In schizophrenic patients the density of dopamine uptake sites in the basal ganglia was slightly reduced, mainly in the middle third of putamen.
  • (13) During recovery glucose uptake was reduced and citrate release was unaffected.
  • (14) The difference in BP between a hospital casual reading and the mean 24 hour ambulatory reading was reduced only by atenolol.
  • (15) Based on several previous studies, which demonstrated that sorbitol accumulation in human red blood cells (RBCs) was a function of ambient glucose concentrations, either in vitro or in vivo, our investigations were conducted to determine if RBC sorbitol accumulation would correlate with sorbitol accumulation in lens and nerve tissue of diabetic rats; the effect of sorbinil in reducing sorbitol levels in lens and nerve tissue of diabetic rats would be reflected by changes in RBC sorbitol; and sorbinil would reduce RBC sorbitol in diabetic man.
  • (16) This was unlike the action of the calcium channel blocker, cadmium, which reduced the calcium action potential and the a.h.p.
  • (17) aeruginosa and Enterococci) were significantly reduced in number during the manipulation (Fig.
  • (18) Arginine vasopressin further reduced papillary flow in kidneys perfused with high viscosity artificial plasma.
  • (19) Epidermal growth factor reduced plating efficiency by about 50% for A431 cells in different cell cycle phases whereas a slight increase in plating efficiency was seen for SiHa cells.
  • (20) Nicardipine lowered systolic and diastolic blood pressure to normal, plasma aldosterone was reduced and serum potassium levels were increased.

Shorten


Definition:

  • (a.) To make short or shorter in measure, extent, or time; as, to shorten distance; to shorten a road; to shorten days of calamity.
  • (a.) To reduce or diminish in amount, quantity, or extent; to lessen; to abridge; to curtail; to contract; as, to shorten work, an allowance of food, etc.
  • (a.) To make deficient (as to); to deprive; -- with of.
  • (a.) To make short or friable, as pastry, with butter, lard, pot liquor, or the like.
  • (v. i.) To become short or shorter; as, the day shortens in northern latitudes from June to December; a metallic rod shortens by cold.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The extent of the infectious process was limited, however, because the life span of the cultures was not significantly shortened, the yields of infectious virus per immunofluorescent cell were at all times low, and most infected cells contained only a few well-delineated small masses of antigen, suggestive of an abortive infection.
  • (2) Hearing loss at 8 kHz would shorten the I-V interval, while a loss at 4 kHz would be expected to lengthen the interval.
  • (3) Both systems indicated that the Kupffer cell modified endotoxin by enriching the lipid content of the molecule and shortening the length of the O-antigen.
  • (4) Platelet survival time in patients with Crohn's disease proved to be significantly shortened (p less than 0.001), whereas platelet turnover appeared augmented.
  • (5) Shorten said any arrangement needed to be consistent with international obligations, with asylum seekers afforded due process and their claims properly assessed.
  • (6) Rapid, on-site detection of chlamydial antigen in male FVU would shorten the infectious period by hastening diagnosis and treatment.
  • (7) Isometric exercise induces a significant shortening of both intervals although minor for QT so that the ratio significantly increases in comparison to baseline (p less than .001).
  • (8) Light-induced cone shortening provides a useful model for stuying nonmuscle contraction because it is linear, slow, and repetitive.
  • (9) In the V fibers, APD was lengthened by F, Q, and B, and shortened by L and M. The drug-induced changes in the relation between APD and CL were as in the P fibers.
  • (10) The CL was also longer in the duodenum, whereas the CD was shortened, indicating a reduction of the wave movements from the stomach antrum to the duodenum in the ranitidine periods.
  • (11) Chloride caused a significant concentration-dependent shortening of myosin rods due to destabilization of the alpha-helical double coiled rod structure.
  • (12) Strong correlations were found also between postsystolic shortening and thickening measured immediately before reperfusion and systolic shortening and thickening measured after recovery at 2-3 weeks (r = 0.73, n = 28; p less than 0.001 for shortening; r = 0.79, n = 12; p less than 0.01 for thickening).
  • (13) Slight but significant shortening of the latency of initial positivity in the evoked potential was observed after rearing in the enriched condition as compared to the data obtained from the littermates that were reared in the standard or impoverished conditions.
  • (14) When using pair stimula, barbamil shortens the period of absolute nonexcitation and the second phase of depression in the cycle of restituted H-reflexes to the second stimula in the pair.
  • (15) Accordingly, RV systolic SL shortening did not rise despite the substantial augmentation in RV outflow.
  • (16) Chloroquine administration shortened the time taken to reach peak plasma paracetamol concentration (tmax) in five of the volunteers.
  • (17) The survival time of the lambs was markedly shortened with the bubble oxygenator, although much longer than had been anticipated.
  • (18) An algorithm for the treatment of cryptococcosis complicating AIDS may shorten the duration of primary intravenous AB therapy.
  • (19) VT returned to control levels, expiratory time shortened, and breathing frequency increased.
  • (20) Isotonically, peak muscle shortening was reduced in the left muscle, whereas time to peak shortening was prolonged in the right myocardium.