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

• 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

Section 179 has long allowed business owners to deduct the cost of qualifying property in the year it’s placed in service, but with some limits. —David Rae, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2025

Specifically, the new law allows those who receive tips to deduct up to $25,000 in taxable income. —Chris Talgo, Boston Herald, 4 Aug. 2025

Instead, workers said, their employers were increasingly turning to private health insurance whose costs are fully deducted from their wages and provide fewer benefits. —Jasmin Malik Chua, Sourcing Journal, 28 July 2025

The amount of losses players can deduct is limited to their winnings, and deductible losses cannot exceed total winnings for the year. —James Powel, USA Today, 25 July 2025

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