minus

1. 1.

   an arithmetic operation in which the difference between two numbers is calculated

   “the subtraction of three from four leaves one”

   “four minus three equals one”

   Synonymssubtraction

   Broaderarithmetic operation

Other forms of minus

plural

minuses·

comparative

minuser·

superlative

minusest·

Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.

Questions about minus

What does minus mean?

minus means "on the negative side or lower end of a scale". That is the primary sense; the word has 3 in total, listed in full on this page.

How many syllables are in minus?

minus has 2 syllables: mi-nus. The stress falls on "mi". In IPA it is /ˈmaɪnəs/.

What is another word for minus?

Close synonyms include negative, subtraction. Each sense on this page lists its own synonyms, because a word with several meanings rarely has one substitute that works for all of them.

What is the opposite of minus?

The recorded antonyms are plus.

Is minus a common word?

minus is banded "Common" — everyday vocabulary in speech and writing. The band comes from how often the word appears in a large corpus of everyday English, not from an editor's impression.