deduce

de·duce | \ di-ˈdüs

, dē-; chiefly British -ˈdyüs \

deduced; deducing

Definition of deduce

1 : to determine by reasoning or deduction deduce the age of ancient artifacts She deduced, from the fur stuck to his clothes, that he owned a cat. specifically, philosophy : to infer (see infer sense 1) from a general principle

2 : to trace the course of deduce their lineage

Other Words from deduce Synonyms Choose the Right Synonym More Example Sentences Learn More about deduce

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Choose the Right Synonym for deduce

infer, deduce, conclude, judge, gather mean to arrive at a mental conclusion. infer implies arriving at a conclusion by reasoning from evidence; if the evidence is slight, the term comes close to surmise. from that remark, I inferred that they knew each other deduce often adds to infer the special implication of drawing a particular inference from a generalization. denied we could deduce anything important from human mortality conclude implies arriving at a necessary inference at the end of a chain of reasoning. concluded that only the accused could be guilty judge stresses a weighing of the evidence on which a conclusion is based. judge people by their actions gather suggests an intuitive forming of a conclusion from implications. gathered their desire to be alone without a word

Examples of deduce in a Sentence

I can deduce from the simple observation of your behavior that you're trying to hide something from me.

Recent Examples on the Web By the age of 5, many children can deduce that a smiling, friendly classmate is not looking to start a physical fight. — Kristina Rizga, The Atlantic, "How One School Program in New York Helps Students With Autism," 30 Dec. 2019 Johansson’s monologue then became filled with hilarious Avengers references when many of the SNL cast, including Bowen Yang and Beck Bennett, began to suddenly turn to dust, which the actress quickly deduced to be Thanos’ doing. — Eric Todisco, PEOPLE.com, "Scarlett Johansson Calls Fiancé Colin Jost the 'Love of My Life' in SNL Monologue," 15 Dec. 2019 But there are some things one can deduce from the public statements. — Rebeccah Heinrichs, National Review, "The U.S. Should Withdraw from the Treaty on Open Skies," 29 Oct. 2019 The freshman quarterback Johnny Langan, doing the math in his head, correctly deduced that the three offensive touchdowns Rutgers managed were the most the Buckeyes had allowed in a game all season. — New York Times, "In the Gilded Big Ten, Rutgers Is Still a Have-Not," 18 Nov. 2019 The researchers deduced that this is because the robot's aiming feature replaces a remote user's instructions for low-scale motion and also reduces the task knowledge required to move. — Courtney Linder, Popular Mechanics, "This Robotic Arm Can Lend a Helping Hand With Repairs," 17 Nov. 2019 But Schapiro quickly deduced that Giuliani had left the voice mail by accident. — Jody Rosen, The New Yorker, "Rudy Giuliani and the Butt-Dialler Within All of Us," 5 Nov. 2019 Carr could deduce that because the words didn't line up perfectly with the individual abbreviations. — Yudhijit Bhattacharjee, CNN, "How the FBI tracked down 'the spy who couldn't spell'," 1 Nov. 2019 Supplied with that information, Eratosthenes deduced Earth’s circumference as 250,000 stades, a Hellenistic unit of length equaling roughly 600 feet. — Adam Hadhazy, Discover Magazine, "The Top 10 Science Experiments of All Time," 10 Oct. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'deduce.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.