subtract

verb

sub·​tract səb-ˈtrakt 

subtracted; subtracting; subtracts

transitive verb

: to take away by or as if by deducting

subtract 5 from 9

subtract funds from the project

intransitive verb

: to perform a subtraction

subtracter noun

Synonyms

• deduct

Examples of subtract in a Sentence

if you subtract 10 from 23, you get 13

you can subtract the time you spent daydreaming from your total homework time

Recent Examples on the Web

This created a template by which Alpha Centauri B’s light could then be subtracted out from the precious images of Alpha Centauri A. —Meghan Bartels, Scientific American, 7 Aug. 2025

Imports are subtracted from U.S. growth. ◾ Consumers are happier: Both consumer confidence and sentiment continued to climb in July, recovering from their April lows. —Jim Sergent, USA Today, 2 Aug. 2025

That flurry of deals subtracted Javier Báez, Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant, while adding to the organization’s pool of prospects. —Patrick Mooney, New York Times, 31 July 2025

Still, the key to first-person address, as that great Renaissance master Michel de Montaigne understood, is not to subtract complication but to supply it, registering doubt, hesitation, and irony even while developing an argument. —Adam Gopnik, New Yorker, 28 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

Latin subtractus, past participle of subtrahere to draw from beneath, withdraw, from sub- + trahere to draw

First Known Use

1557, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for subtract

• abstract
• attacked
• attract
• contact
• contract
• detract
• distract
• enact
• exact
• extract
• hijacked
• impact

Kids Definition

subtract

verb

sub·​tract səb-ˈtrakt 

1

: to take away (as one part or number) from another : deduct

subtract 5 from 9

2

: to perform a subtraction