as in to deduct
to take away (an amount or number) from a total
if you subtract 10 from 23, you get 13 you can subtract the time you spent daydreaming from your total homework time
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Recent Examples of subtract
Add pasta to the pot and cook until just shy of al dente (check package directions and subtract a minute or so).
—
The New York Times News Service Syndicate, Denver Post, 21 Oct. 2025
Apple isn’t the first to subtract the plus sign from its streaming platform.
—Tony Maglio, HollywoodReporter, 13 Oct. 2025
But in an Akan language, the notion that an object could exist as a bare substrate, stripped of properties—say, the idea of a stone, with its weight, texture, and color subtracted—is basically unintelligible; the metaphysical split between a thing and its properties isn’t naturally expressible.
—Lula Konner, The New York Review of Books, 4 Oct. 2025
The leap from knots to links is a relatively small one, but mathematicians can extend the ideas of knot theory to study mind-bending concepts such as higher-dimensional knots, surfaces with knotted edges and difficult-to-imagine objects obtained by subtracting a knot from three-dimensional space.
—Emma R. Hasson, Scientific American, 3 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for subtract
The New York Times News Service Syndicate, Denver Post, 21 Oct. 2025
Apple isn’t the first to subtract the plus sign from its streaming platform.
—Tony Maglio, HollywoodReporter, 13 Oct. 2025
But in an Akan language, the notion that an object could exist as a bare substrate, stripped of properties—say, the idea of a stone, with its weight, texture, and color subtracted—is basically unintelligible; the metaphysical split between a thing and its properties isn’t naturally expressible.
—Lula Konner, The New York Review of Books, 4 Oct. 2025
The leap from knots to links is a relatively small one, but mathematicians can extend the ideas of knot theory to study mind-bending concepts such as higher-dimensional knots, surfaces with knotted edges and difficult-to-imagine objects obtained by subtracting a knot from three-dimensional space.
—Emma R. Hasson, Scientific American, 3 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for subtract
Recent Examples of Synonyms for subtract
deduct
Verb
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Retirees will run into higher costs for Medicare Part B premiums, which are deducted from Social Security checks.—
Susan Tompor,
USA Today,
3 Nov. 2025
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Those monthly premium payments are typically deducted directly from Social Security checks, and therefore affect how much of the cost-of-living adjustment beneficiaries may see.—
Lorie Konish,
CNBC,
30 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Subtract.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/subtract. Accessed 11 Nov. 2025.
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