deduct

verb

de·​duct di-ˈdəkt 

dē-

deducted; deducting; deducts

transitive verb

1

: to take away (an amount) from a total : subtract

2

: deduce, infer

Synonyms of deduct

• subtract

Examples of deduct in a Sentence

You can deduct up to $500 for money given to charity.

after deducting taxes, what's left is your net pay for the week

Recent Examples on the Web

That’s because the federal tax code, in section 280E, dictates that companies working with Schedule I or Schedule II substances are prohibited from deducting many standard business expenses. —Tiney Ricciardi, Denver Post, 24 Apr. 2026

Gross margin, the percentage of revenue remaining after deducting the cost of production, was 41% in the quarter on an adjusted basis. —Bloomberg, Mercury News, 24 Apr. 2026

The remaining settlement fund after deducting those costs and expenses will then be split among recipients based on their individual amounts, according to the settlement website. —Melina Khan, USA Today, 23 Apr. 2026

Colleagues instead voted overwhelmingly to censure him and deduct about $22,500 from his paychecks to cover the costs of the investigation. —ABC News, 21 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Latin deductus, past participle of deducere

First Known Use

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for deduct

• abduct
• conduct
• construct
• destruct
• induct
• instruct
• obstruct
• aqueduct
• deconstruct
• reconstruct
• bucked
• chucked

Kids Definition

deduct

verb

de·​duct di-ˈdəkt 

: to take away (an amount) from a total : subtract

deductible

-ˈdək-tə-bəl

adjective

Legal Definition

deduct

transitive verb

de·​duct

: to take away (an amount) from a total

specifically : to take as a deduction

must be capitalized…rather than immediately deducted

—D. Q. Posin

compare amortize