reduce somebody/something to something phrasal verb ( see also ↑ reduce )
1 . reduce somebody to tears/silence etc to make someone cry, be silent etc:
She was reduced to tears in front of her students.
2 . reduce somebody to doing something to make someone do something they would rather not do, especially when it involves behaving or living in a way that is not as good as before:
Eventually Charlotte was reduced to begging on the streets.
3 . reduce something to ashes/rubble/ruins to destroy something, especially a building, completely:
A massive earthquake reduced the city to rubble.
4 . to change something into a shorter simpler form:
Many jobs can be reduced to a few simple points.