reducern.

c1530 R. Wyer in tr. C. de Pisan C. Hyst. Troye Ab Excuse thy reducer [= translator] blamyng his ygnoraunce.

1533 J. Bellenden tr. Livy Hist. Rome (1901) I. ii. xv. 187 Þocht he was..reducear [v.r. redussar] of þame to þe ciete.

a1586 Sir P. Sidney Arcadia (1590) ii. vi. sig. R7^v The reducer of them into order.

1611 J. Speed Hist. Great Brit. ix. xxi. 780/2 The first reducer..of the Vniuersity of Cambridge from rudenesse and barbarity, vnto good literature and learning.

1680 in W. M. Morison Decisions Court of Session (1807) XXXVII. 16181 That the reducer should satisfy the whole expenses of that progress.

1754 S. Richardson Hist. Sir Charles Grandison VII. Index 394 The parturient circumstance a reducer of excentric spirits.

1868 G. MacDonald Robert Falconer I. 243 We shall have more compilers and reducers,..and fewer inventors.

1877 R. W. Raymond Statistics Mines & Mining 286 Reducers cannot now buy directly of the miner.

1894 St. James's Gaz. 17 Feb. 6/2 It was a great reducer of crime.

1923 W. S. Maugham Our Betters i. 23 He's the great reducer... What does he reduce?.. The Duchess of Arlington told me he'd taken nine pounds off her.

1946 A. Nelson Princ. Agric. Bot. xiv. 325 The predominant rôle of calcium in agriculture..arises from the use of lime as a soil ameliorant and as a reducer of soil acidity.

1987 N. F. Dixon Our own Worst Enemy (1988) xiii. 211 This interest in people as boredom reducers, whether they be pop stars, record breakers, criminals or royalty, is fairly harmless.

2008 Canberra Times (Nexis) 25 May Dancing works like a stress and tension reducer.

1960 A. Petrie in Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 86 15 Let us call persons who tend to reduce the size of the block subjectively after stimulation the Reducers, as distinguished from the Augmenters, who tend to enlarge the block.

1960 A. Petrie in Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 86 19 There is, in the case of Reducers and Augmenters, the likelihood that they are seeing, hearing, touching, and feeling all things at different intensities.

1970 Science 27 Nov. 998/2 Evidence..suggests that there are specific behavioral characteristics associated with individuals who are augmenters and reducers.

2009 J. K. Norem in M. R. Leary & R. H. Hoyle Handbk. Individual Differences Social Behavior xxxiii. 482/1 Reducers seek out and enjoy interesting and intense stimulus situations.

a1690 S. Jeake Λογιστικηλογία (1696) 152 The several Denominations are Reducers.

1854 Chemist 1 637 The oxide of iron of ordinary combustion is an insufficent reducer, and incapable of removing oxygen from metals of the class of iron.

1933 S. W. Cole Pract. Physiol. Chem. (ed. 9) xi. 263 The oxidised substance or reducer is therefore either a hydrogen donator or an oxygen acceptor.

1982 G. C. Hill & J. S. Holman Chem. in Context: Lab. Man. & Study Guide 21/1 The intention of this practical is..to place these substances in order of strength as oxidizers or reducers.

2003 V. V. Roshchina & V. D. Roshchina Ozone & Plant Cell i. 23 Hydrogen peroxide can work both as an oxidizer and a reducer.

1857 Lancet 12 Dec. 605/2 Three to four ounces of biscuit were made by Mr. Moore, to replace—he doesn't say how many ounces of bread. Ergo, biscuit is your great reducer!

1903 E. Sandys in Athletics for Women ii. 99 For those able to dispense with a few pounds of surplus adipose tissue, it [sc. swimming] is one of the best of reducers.

1938 Galveston (Texas) Daily News 7 Oct. 18 (advt.) For a nicer figure immediately, and for one that will grow slimmer with surprising rapidity, this Sturdi-Flex Reducer is the ideal garment.

1971 Cumberland (Maryland) Sunday Times 31 Oct. The only true, safe, fast and effective reducer that trims down pounds and slims down the figure.

1858 Jrnl. Photogr. Soc. 21 Sept. 28/1 Gallic acid..by its gentle action as a reducer enables you to modify the development at will.

1897 E. J. Wall Dict. Photogr. (ed. 7) 501 If the negative has been dried, soak in water till wet, then cover with the reducer.

1905 Westm. Gaz. 25 Feb. 14/2 This [sc. Farmer's] reducer is compounded of potassium ferricyanide solution, and a solution of hypo.

1977 J. Hedgecoe Photographer's Handbk. 242 Persulfate reducer..makes a better reducer for negatives which are over-developed and therefore need less density and contrast.

2001 C. Graves Elem. Black-and-White Printing (ed. 2) vii. 91 There are two primary reducer types: subtractive, which removes density equally from all tones in the image, and proportional, which removes density in proportion to the current density of the image tones.

1875 F. M. Barber Lect. Whitehead Torpedo 16 To set the torpedo to run at any given speed, a small reducer, located between the cylinders, receives the full pressure of the compressed air as soon as the throttle is opened, but only allows it to pass to the engine at a given number of pounds per square inch.

1899 Westm. Gaz. 29 June 2/1 The reducers for regulating the air-pressure in the cylinders.

1963 L. Deighton Horse under Water xix. 79 Giorgio and Singleton were to try a dive in the afternoon, but Giorgio's reducer was defective (which caused the air to blast into the demand valve instead of flowing).

2003 F. R. Spellman Handbk. Water & Wastewater Treatm. Plant Operations viii. 272 Once the valve is set, the reduced pressure will be maintained regardless of changes in supply pressure..providing the load does not exceed the design capacity of the reducer.

a1884 E. H. Knight Pract. Dict. Mech. Suppl. 746/2 Reducer, a joint-piece for connecting pipes of varying diameter.

1901 Amer. Jrnl. Psychol. 12 447 The slight hissing sound of the current of air may be lessened by a ‘reducer’, a glass tube of small bore introduced within the large rubber feed tube.

1978 R. P. Singhal Home Plumber's Bible xi. 327 When you are joining pipes of the same material but of different size, use a reducer.

2005 Times Union (Albany, N.Y.) (Nexis) 21 Sept. b1 City Engineer Russ Reeves said the 100-year-old pipe that broke was a reducer that goes from 12 to eight inches.

1891 Rep. 17th Triennial Exhib. Mass. Charitable Mechanic Assoc. 822 In the rear of the exhibit were..neatly arranged packages of..Owline (a new ink reducer). and Owl Brand Inks.

1940 C. Ellis Printing Inks 493 (Gloss.) Reducers, more or less volatile compounds drying by evaporation and penetration, employed to bring the varnish to the proper tack and consistency for use on the press.

1968 Gloss. Terms Offset Lithogr. Printing (B.S.I.) 26 Reducer. 1. A liquid, miscible with ink, used to reduce its consistency. 2. A substance for addition to a printing ink to reduce its colour strength without necessarily affecting its consistency.

2005 G. A. Walker Woodcut Artist's Handbk. iv. 101 Reducers should be used in very small amounts, about 1 part reducer to 5 parts ink.