subtract

Meanings

1. 1
   verb

   To take a number or amount away from another.

   If you subtract the cost of gas from the total, it was a cheap trip.

2. 2
   verb

   To do a subtraction in arithmetic.

   The teacher showed the children how to subtract.

Borrowed from Latin subtractus, perfect passive participle of subtrahō (“to draw from beneath; withdraw, remove”); from sub (“under”) + trahō (“to draw, pull, drag”).

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