reduce

in reduced circumstances (slightly formal)

if someone, especially someone from a high social class, is in reduced circumstances, they have a lot less money than they did before. They found him living in reduced circumstances in a flat off Fulham Road.

See also: circumstance

reduce someone to tears

to make someone cry. His classmates jeered, reducing him to tears.

See also: tear

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reduce someone to something

to force someone into a worse condition than usual. He had to sell his home to pay his legal fees and was reduced to parking cars for money. Sheila's cries reduced him to silence.