DEDUCTION

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does deduction mean? 

• DEDUCTION (noun)
  The noun DEDUCTION has 6 senses:

1. a reduction in the gross amount on which a tax is calculated; reduces taxes by the percentage fixed for the taxpayer's income bracket

2. an amount or percentage deducted

3. something that is inferred (deduced or entailed or implied)

4. reasoning from the general to the particular (or from cause to effect)

5. the act of subtracting (removing a part from the whole)

6. the act of reducing the selling price of merchandise

  Familiarity information: DEDUCTION used as a noun is common.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DEDUCTION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A reduction in the gross amount on which a tax is calculated; reduces taxes by the percentage fixed for the taxpayer's income bracket

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Synonyms:

deduction; tax deduction; tax write-off

Hypernyms ("deduction" is a kind of...):

write-down; write-off ((accounting) reduction in the book value of an asset)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "deduction"):

tax benefit; tax break (a tax deduction that is granted in order to encourage a particular type of commercial activity)

business deduction (tax write-off for expenses of doing business)

exemption (a deduction allowed to a taxpayer because of his status (having certain dependents or being blind or being over 65 etc.))

Sense 2

Meaning:

An amount or percentage deducted

Classified under:

Nouns denoting possession and transfer of possession

Synonyms:

deduction; discount

Hypernyms ("deduction" is a kind of...):

adjustment; allowance (an amount added or deducted on the basis of qualifying circumstances)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "deduction"):

trade discount (a discount from the list price of a commodity allowed by a manufacturer or wholesaler to a merchant)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Something that is inferred (deduced or entailed or implied)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

deduction; entailment; implication

Context example:

his resignation had political implications

Hypernyms ("deduction" is a kind of...):

illation; inference (the reasoning involved in drawing a conclusion or making a logical judgment on the basis of circumstantial evidence and prior conclusions rather than on the basis of direct observation)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Reasoning from the general to the particular (or from cause to effect)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

deduction; deductive reasoning; synthesis

Hypernyms ("deduction" is a kind of...):

abstract thought; logical thinking; reasoning (thinking that is coherent and logical)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "deduction"):

syllogism (deductive reasoning in which a conclusion is derived from two premises)

Derivation:

deduce (reason by deduction; establish by deduction)

deduce (conclude by reasoning; in logic)

deduct (reason by deduction; establish by deduction)

Sense 5

Meaning:

The act of subtracting (removing a part from the whole)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

deduction; subtraction

Context example:

he complained about the subtraction of money from their paychecks

Hypernyms ("deduction" is a kind of...):

decrease; diminution; reduction; step-down (the act of decreasing or reducing something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "deduction"):

bite (a portion removed from the whole)

withholding (the act of deducting from an employee's salary)

Derivation:

deduct (make a subtraction)

Sense 6

Meaning:

The act of reducing the selling price of merchandise

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

deduction; discount; price reduction

Hypernyms ("deduction" is a kind of...):

decrease; diminution; reduction; step-down (the act of decreasing or reducing something)

 Context examples 

It was a simple story which he had to tell, and one which did but confirm our own deductions.

(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Because your money outlook is so upbeat, you might qualify for several legal deductions now.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

“It belongs to the same elementary class of deduction which I should illustrate if I were to ask you who shared your cab in your drive this morning.”

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Ultimate; final; remaining after all deductions, outlay, or loss.

(Net, NCI Thesaurus)

A person's total income before taxes, exclusions, and deductions.

(Gross Income, NCI Thesaurus)

“Surely my deductions are simplicity itself,” said he.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“We have got to the deductions and the inferences,” said Lestrade, winking at me.

(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Emma could not deplore her future absence as any deduction from her own enjoyment.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

"Gee!" Joe exploded, then waited in silence for the deduction to arise in his brain. At last it came.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

A living, of which Mr. Morland was himself patron and incumbent, of about four hundred pounds yearly value, was to be resigned to his son as soon as he should be old enough to take it; no trifling deduction from the family income, no niggardly assignment to one of ten children.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)