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
One alteration by addition begs another by subtraction: The recap strangely excludes all footage of Project Butterfly, the bad guys who dominated Season 1, even though Season 2 does acknowledge the dismissal of its leader, Amanda Waller (Viola Davis).
—
Ben Travers, IndieWire, 21 Aug. 2025
Politics is a game of addition and not subtraction.
—John Phillips, Oc Register, 29 July 2025
Imports are a subtraction in the GDP calculation.
—Tobias Burns, The Hill, 28 July 2025
All data are reported with their 2σ uncertainties that include reproducibility of D/H measurements on the reference materials, uncertainty of H2O background subtraction, internal precision on each analysis and uncertainty of corrections of spallation effects (Supplementary Table 5).
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 16 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for subtraction
Ben Travers, IndieWire, 21 Aug. 2025
Politics is a game of addition and not subtraction.
—John Phillips, Oc Register, 29 July 2025
Imports are a subtraction in the GDP calculation.
—Tobias Burns, The Hill, 28 July 2025
All data are reported with their 2σ uncertainties that include reproducibility of D/H measurements on the reference materials, uncertainty of H2O background subtraction, internal precision on each analysis and uncertainty of corrections of spallation effects (Supplementary Table 5).
—Keith Cooper, Space.com, 16 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for subtraction
Recent Examples of Synonyms for subtraction
Noun
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However, states don't offer tax deductions for contributions made to taxable brokerage accounts.—
Jasmin Suknanan,
CNBC,
25 Sep. 2025
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No tax on tips and overtime and the $6,000 bonus deduction for seniors have been well publicized, but there’s much more in the new law that can change your taxes.—
Daniel de Visé,
USA Today,
24 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Union attorneys argue the OMB overstepped its legal authority, asserting that federal law does not permit reductions in force during a lapse in appropriations.—
Amanda Castro,
MSNBC Newsweek,
1 Oct. 2025
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Route optimization and delay reduction could also lead to direct savings for companies in operating costs, power consumption, and equipment maintenance.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
30 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Subtraction.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/subtraction. Accessed 6 Oct. 2025.
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