lower vs reduce

lower

verb
  • To reduce (something) in value, amount, etc. 

  • To decrease in value, amount, etc. 

  • To reduce operations to single machine instructions, as part of compilation of a program. 

  • To reduce the degree, intensity, strength, etc., of 

  • To bring down; to humble 

  • (lower oneself) To humble oneself; to do something one considers to be beneath one's dignity. 

  • To let descend by its own weight, as something suspended; to let down 

  • To reduce the height of 

  • To depress as to direction 

  • to pull down 

  • To make less elevated 

  • To fall; to sink; to grow less; to diminish; to decrease 

adj
  • bottom; more towards the bottom than the middle of an object 

  • Situated on lower ground, nearer a coast, or more southerly. 

  • older 

reduce

verb
  • To bring down the size, quantity, quality, value or intensity of something; to diminish, to lower. 

  • To annul by legal means. 

  • To convert to written form. (Usage note: this verb almost always appears as "reduce to writing".) 

  • To lose weight. 

  • To perform a reduction; to restore a fracture or dislocation to the correct alignment. 

  • To bring to an inferior state or condition. 

  • To simplify an equation or formula without changing its value. 

  • To bring to an inferior rank; to degrade, to demote. 

  • To convert a syllogism to a clearer or simpler form. 

  • To add electrons / hydrogen or to remove oxygen. 

  • To humble; to conquer; to subdue; to capture. 

  • To strike off the payroll. 

  • To decrease the liquid content of food by boiling much of its water off. 

  • To produce metal from ore by removing nonmetallic elements in a smelter. 

  • To express the solution of a problem in terms of another (known) algorithm. 

  • To reform a line or column from (a square). 

How often have the words lower and reduce occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )