as in deduction
the act or an instance of taking away from a total
the restaurant may not have raised the price, but there's definitely been a subtraction in the number of fries in a side order
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Recent Examples of subtraction
In addition to learning addition, subtraction and fractions, kids learn how to collect payments, count change and calculate the business’s profitability.
—
Bestreviews, Mercury News, 1 Aug. 2025
Companies like Charter and CNBC’s parent company, Comcast, have largely traded on residential broadband additions (or subtractions) for many years.
—Alex Sherman, CNBC, 31 July 2025
Imports are a subtraction in the GDP calculation.
—Tobias Burns, The Hill, 28 July 2025
As Heritage Board Chairman Barb Gaby and President Kevin Roberts wrote in their note to staff, alumni, and the many friends gained over the past 52 years:
Ed believed in addition, not subtraction.
—Bridget Weisenburger, National Review, 25 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for subtraction
Bestreviews, Mercury News, 1 Aug. 2025
Companies like Charter and CNBC’s parent company, Comcast, have largely traded on residential broadband additions (or subtractions) for many years.
—Alex Sherman, CNBC, 31 July 2025
Imports are a subtraction in the GDP calculation.
—Tobias Burns, The Hill, 28 July 2025
As Heritage Board Chairman Barb Gaby and President Kevin Roberts wrote in their note to staff, alumni, and the many friends gained over the past 52 years:
Ed believed in addition, not subtraction.
—Bridget Weisenburger, National Review, 25 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for subtraction
Recent Examples of Synonyms for subtraction
Noun
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As many tax practitioners predicted, the IRS is relying on new box codes to address new deductions, like the tip deduction.—
Kelly Phillips Erb,
Forbes.com,
4 Sep. 2025
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For example, a single filer claiming the full $25,000 would lose the deduction entirely at $400,000 in income.—
Diana Leyva,
The Tennessean,
3 Sep. 2025
Noun
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OpenAI also says there is a 45 percent to 65 percent reduction in factual errors over GPT-4, depending on the setting, as well as substantial gains in handling medical and coding tasks on industry-standard benchmarks.—
Shane Croucher,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Sep. 2025
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The premium on French 30-year bonds breached a level last seen in 2008 as the government is on the brink of collapse, putting the country’s deficit reduction plans at risk .—
Jenni Reid,
CNBC,
3 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Subtraction.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/subtraction. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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