Induce Meaning
/ɪnˈduːs/Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
Listen pronunciation
Definition
verbTo lead by persuasion or influence; incite or prevail upon.
verbTo cause, bring about, lead to.
Sentence Examples
Nothing could induce him to change his mind.
Moderate exercise in the evening helps induce sleep.
Nothing would induce me to take the job.
CEFR Practice Quiz
The doctor used medicine to ____ labor in the pregnant woman.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The doctor may need to ____ labor if the baby does not arrive within the next few days.
Word Origin & History
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.
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter IV, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC, page 58:
"A mere glance at the plot descriptions of the show’s fourth season is enough to induce Pavlovian giggle fits and shivers of joy."
— 2012 May 20, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “Marge Gets A Job” (season 4, episode 7; originally aired 11/05/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club:
"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."
— 2014 December 5, Marina Hyde, “Childbirth is as awful as it is magical, thanks to our postnatal ‘care’”, in The Guardian:
"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."
— 2023 November 15, Prof. Jim Wild, “This train was delayed because of bad weather in space”, in RAIL, number 996, page 30:
Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
The doctor used medicine to ____ labor in the pregnant woman.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
The doctor may need to ____ labor if the baby does not arrive within the next few days.