induce

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   cause to arise

   induce a crisis

2. 2
   verb

   To lead by persuasion or influence; incite or prevail upon.

   The Celebrity, by arts unknown, induced Mrs. Judge Short and two other ladies to call at Mohair on a certain afternoon when Mr. Cooke was trying a trotter on the track. The three returned wondering and charmed with Mrs. Cooke; they were sure she had had no hand in the furnishing of that atrocious house.

3. 3
   verb

   To cause, bring about, lead to.

   His meditation induced a compromise. Opium induces sleep.

4. 4
   verb

   To induce the labour of (a pregnant woman).

   By the time of my third, five months ago, I was a right bossy cow about what I wanted because I knew the drill. For reasons I shan’t bore you with, I got them to induce me at 39 weeks, at 10am, with the epidural going in first, and it was all a dream.

5. 5
   verb

   To cause or produce (electric current or a magnetic state) by a physical process of induction.

   The scientific instruments of the day recorded rapid fluctuations in the Earth's magnetic field, as powerful electrical currents flowed through the upper atmosphere. Ships' logs noted observations of the northern lights as far south as the Caribbean, and telegraph systems across the world were disrupted as electrical currents were induced in the copper lines.

6. 6
   verb

   reason or establish by induction

7. 7
   verb

   cause to do

8. 8
   verb

   cause to occur rapidly

Etymology

From Middle English enducen, borrowed from Latin indūcere (“lead in, bring in, introduce”), from in + dūcō (“lead, conduct”). Compare also abduce, adduce, conduce, deduce, produce, reduce etc. Doublet of endue.