deduct
Americanverb (used with object)
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deducts,
present (3rd person singular)
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deducted,
past participle, past
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deducting
present participle
verb (used without object)
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deducts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
deducted,
past participle, past
-
deducting
present participle
verb
Synonym Usage
See subtract.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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deductsimple
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deductssimple
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have deductedperfect
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has deductedperfect
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am deductingprogressive
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are deductingprogressive
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is deductingprogressive
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have been deductingperfect progressive
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has been deductingperfect progressive
Past
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deductedsimple
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had deductedperfect
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was deductingprogressive
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were deductingprogressive
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had been deductingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of deduct
First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English, from Latin dēductus “brought down, withdrawn,” past participle of dēdūcere; see deduce
Explanation
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."
Vocabulary lists containing deduct
Lead the Way: Duc and Duct
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: duc, duct
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
It also lets people who give money to them deduct the donations from their taxes, an incentive that helps schools fundraise.
From Slate ● Sep. 3, 2026
The IRS lets entrepreneurs and companies deduct their “ordinary and necessary” expenses to build their businesses.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 25, 2026
Reports said the government would deduct a 12% royalty from the sale proceeds and the remaining money would be divided equally among the seven workers.
From BBC ● Aug. 12, 2026
However, some higher earners covered by a retirement plan at work won’t be able to deduct their traditional IRA contributions.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
“Mrs. Kastor will deduct five points off my grade if I don’t hand my paper in by the end of first period!”
From "Auggie & Me" by R. J. Palacio
That’s after SpaceX deducts underwriting discounts, commissions and other expected payments.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 3, 2026
It calls it a capital investment, and deducts it from earnings little by little.
From Barron's ● Dec. 26, 2025
The company says it doesn’t charge interest on the cash it extends to people between paychecks but deducts what it calls “voluntary tips” upon repayment, the records show.
From Salon ● Nov. 10, 2025
BetMGM said its so-called contribution from operations—a metric that deducts cost of revenue and marketing-acquisition spending from net revenue—is still expected to exceed $500 million.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 14, 2025
Under the English system, an industrial corporation, for instance, pays the income tax upon its gross earnings and then deducts it from the dividends, interest, salaries, and rents as these payments are made.
From The Great Events by Famous Historians, Volume 21 The Recent Days (1910-1914) by Charles F. (Charles Francis) Horne
Their rates start at 260 percent annually, quadruple those of banks, with the payments deducted from the workers' earnings.
From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026
The Blades were deducted two points in the 2024-25 Championship season because of missed transfer payments under Prince Abdullah in the 2022-23 campaign.
From BBC ● Aug. 18, 2026
"We saw him more and more and more over winter, until we kind of deducted that he might not have an owner because he was so dirty," she explained.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
Most people, however, don’t pay premiums for Medicare Part A because Medicare taxes were deducted from their paychecks for at least 40 quarters of work.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 4, 2026
I got out my check-book and deducted four checks drawn since the first of the month, and discovered I had a balance of $1832.60.
From "The Sun Also Rises" by Ernest Hemingway
A “hotchpot clause” in your will ensures fairness by effectively deducting the advance gifts from their inheritance share, retroactively calculating what each heir has already received.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 31, 2025
Revisions to rules for deducting state and local taxes and charitable donations will affect millions of affluent Americans.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 29, 2025
Treasuries now yield less than JGBs after deducting the cost of hedging exchange-rate fluctuations.
From Barron's ● Nov. 22, 2025
You’ll determine your potentially taxable capital gains by deducting your tax basis from your home sales proceeds.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 11, 2025
All these complex operations were gone through without hurry, and without deducting from the work any part of the time usually devoted to similar fabrics.
From A Treatise on Sheep: The Best Means for their Improvement, General Management, and the Treatment of their Diseases. by Ambrose Blacklock
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
