deduct

/diˈdʌkt/

/dɪˈdʌkt/

Other forms: deducted; deducting; deducts

To deduct is to remove or take away some amount. If your boss deducts money from your paycheck because you're always late to work, she subtracts it.

When taxes are withheld from your salary, your employer deducts them to pay your contribution. Each time you use a debit card, it deducts the amount you spend from your bank account. A different way to deduct is to come to a reasoned, thoughtful conclusion, or to deduce. The two words were once interchangeable, while now it's more common to use deduct to mean "remove a portion," and deduce to mean "infer logically."

Definitions of deduct

1. verb

   make a subtraction
   synonyms: subtract, take off

   types:

   carry back

   deduct a loss or an unused credit from taxable income for a prior period

   type of:

   calculate, cipher, compute, cypher, figure, reckon, work out

   make a mathematical calculation or computation
2. verb

   retain and refrain from disbursing; of payments
   synonyms: recoup, withhold

   types:

   dock

   deduct from someone's wages

   type of:

   hold on, keep

   retain possession of
3. verb

   reason by deduction; establish by deduction
   synonyms: deduce, derive, infer

   types:

   extrapolate

   gain knowledge of (an area not known or experienced) by extrapolating

   surmise

   infer from incomplete evidence

   elicit

   derive by reason

   type of:

   conclude, reason, reason out

   decide by reasoning; draw or come to a conclusion