induce

Verb

induce (third-person singular simple present induces, present participle inducing, simple past and past participle induced)

1. (transitive) 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...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. (transitive) To cause, bring about, lead to.
   • His meditation induced a compromise. Opium induces sleep.
   • 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, goose, fuel

3. (transitive) 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.2014 December 5, Marina Hyde, “Childbirth is as awful as it is magical, thanks to our postnatal ‘care’”, in The Guardian
4. 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...2023 November 15, Prof. Jim Wild, “This train was delayed because of bad weather in space”, in RAIL, number 996, page 30
5. (transitive) To infer by induction.

   Antonyms:

   deduce

6. (obsolete, transitive) To lead in, bring in, introduce.
7. (obsolete, transitive) To draw on, place upon.