Meaning & use
induce
Last updated
Meanings
verbtransitiveformal
To persuade or lead someone to do something.
Grammar: Takes an object and to plus a verb: induce someone to sign.
Patterns
- induce someone to do something
Nothing could induce him to sell the house.
The advert tried to induce people to buy more.
She was induced to sign the contract by a false promise.
verbtransitivemedical
To cause a condition, feeling or physical effect to happen.
Grammar: Takes an object naming the effect: induce sleep.
Patterns
- induce something
The drug can induce drowsiness.
Warm milk is said to induce sleep.
Stress may induce headaches in some people.
verbtransitivemedical
To start labor in a pregnant woman using medicine or other medical means.
Grammar: Medical use: induce labor.
Patterns
- induce labor
Doctors decided to induce labor two days after the due date.
The baby was induced at forty-one weeks.
She asked whether the hospital could induce her.
Word forms
| third person singular | induces |
|---|---|
| past tense | induced |
| past participle | induced |
| -ing form | inducing |
Common combinations
- induce sleep
- The tea is meant to induce sleep.
- induce labor
- They had to induce labor.
- induce someone to
- No one could induce her to change her mind.
- induce a reaction
- The chemical can induce an allergic reaction.
- induce vomiting
- The poison control office told him how to induce vomiting.
Synonyms and how they differ
- persuade
- Persuade is plain and common, while induce sounds more formal and often implies a push from some cause.
- cause
- Cause is general and works for any result, whereas induce suggests deliberately bringing it about.
- trigger
- Trigger describes setting off something quickly, often something unwanted.
- coax
- Coax means gently urging, while induce can be strong or even medical.
Opposites
Word family
- inducement noun
- something that persuades someone to act
- induction noun
- the act of inducing or an official introduction
- inducible adjective
- able to be brought about
- induced adjective
- brought about by a particular cause
Commonly confused: induce or deduce?
induce vs deduce
Deduce means to work something out by reasoning, while induce means to bring something about or persuade.
Practice
The medicine can ___ drowsiness, so do not drive after taking it.
Choose one answer.
Induce means to cause an effect such as drowsiness. Deduce is a tempting look-alike, but it means to reason something out.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “induce”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.