induce

present singular third person induces · participle present inducing · participle past induced · past induced

1. transitiveTo lead by persuasion or influence; incite or prevail upon.

   1 more example

   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

   Synonyms: entice, inveigle, put someone up to something

2. transitiveTo cause, bring about, lead to.

   His meditation induced a compromise. Opium induces sleep.

   1 more example

   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

   Synonyms: bring about, instigate, prompt, stimulate, trigger, provoke, abet, actuate

3. transitiveTo 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.

   2014 December 5, Marina Hyde, “Childbirth is as awful as it is magical, thanks to our postnatal ‘care’”, in The Guardian

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

   1 more example

   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

5. transitivehuman sciencesTo infer by induction.

   Antonyms: deduce

6. obsoletetransitiveTo lead in, bring in, introduce.
7. obsoletetransitiveTo draw on, place upon.