mi·nus
ˈmī-nəs 
1
: algebraically negative
a minus quantity
minus ten degrees
2
: having a negative quality
3
: relating to or being a particular one of the two mating types that are required for successful fertilization in sexual reproduction in some lower plants (such as a fungus)
4
: falling low in a specified range
B minus
Synonyms
Examples of minus in a Sentence
Preposition
He left the restaurant minus his hat.
a fruit that looks like a peach, minus the fuzz
Noun
She decided that the pluses of owning a home outweighed the minuses.
Some employers see a lack of experience as a real minus.
Put the minus to the left of the number.
Recent Examples on the Web
David K. Li, NBC News, 8 Mar. 2024
In the small town of Kotzebue, 550 miles (885 kilometers) by air to the northwest, temperatures of minus 30 Fahrenheit (minus 34.4 Celsius) and below caused heating fuel to thicken so much that home heating systems and stoves stopped working, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
—Mark Thiessen, Fortune, 2 Feb. 2024
Likely minus his signature turtleneck and shoulder gun holster, driving the new Mustang while channeling McQueen isn’t a bad way to go.
—James Raia, The Mercury News, 10 Mar. 2024
As the nation’s first National Park Service (NPS) site, the iconic landmark located in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana might get the most attention, but another much quieter park offers similar volcanic activity, minus the crowds.
—Rachel Chang, Travel + Leisure, 5 Feb. 2024
To meet this challenge, Chao-Yang Wang at Penn State University has invented a technology that can heat up a battery from minus 60 degrees Fahrenheit – and fast-charge the battery to 80% of its capacity – all in less than 10 minutes.
—Laurent Belsie, The Christian Science Monitor, 24 Jan. 2024
The short-term rate was raised to a range of 0 to 0.1% from minus 0.1% at a policy meeting that confirmed expectations of a shift away from ultra-lax monetary policy.
—Yuri Kageyama, Quartz, 19 Mar. 2024
As part of the decision, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) raised its short-term interest rates to around 0 to 0.1% from minus 0.1%, according to a statement posted on its website on Tuesday.
—Laura He, CNN, 18 Mar. 2024
But net migration — the number of people who moved into the state, minus those who moved out — shrank markedly compared with the two previous years.
—Sahana Jayaraman, The Arizona Republic, 16 Mar. 2024
Khobi Price, Orange County Register, 28 Jan. 2024
Dinwiddie’s actually led the Lakers in plus/minus since joining the team.
—Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2024
Click the plus to zoom in, and the minus button to zoom out.
—Scooty Nickerson, The Mercury News, 1 Mar. 2024
Still, Rozier did post the third-worst defensive estimated plus/minus among Hornets players this season and his point-of-attack defense will be an area to monitor.
—Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 24 Jan. 2024
The biggest minus to not shadowing Diggs is the Dolphins losing the AFC East title and having to make a trip to Kansas City for a first-round playoff game.
—Chris Perkins, Sun Sentinel, 4 Jan. 2024
Psychological knowledge can aid competitive performance under pressure, help evaluate the benefit of pursuing perfection and assess the pluses and minuses of high self-confidence.
—Tom Siegfried, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Feb. 2024
Adebayo also ranks first on the Heat in advanced metrics like defensive win shares and defensive estimated plus/minus.
—Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 2 Feb. 2024
Offensively, the Ravens have had their ups and downs, but more pluses than minuses.
—Mike Preston, Baltimore Sun, 26 Jan. 2024
Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 11 Apr. 2024
That supported expectations that the Bank of Japan may soon make a shift in its longstanding ultra-lax monetary policy, which is underpinned by a minus 0.1% benchmark interest rate.
—Elaine Kurtenbach, Quartz, 27 Feb. 2024
On the top, the speaker has power, Bluetooth, and plus and minus buttons, along with battery life and LED status indicators.
—PCMAG, 6 Feb. 2024
Temperatures were minus 4 degrees F during kickoff with a minus 27 F wind chill.
—Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 16 Jan. 2024
The Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity index came in at minus 11 points from the minus five reported in November.
—Emon Reiser, WSJ, 27 Dec. 2023
Graphed out using a logarithmic scale, this information showed up as a downward 45 degree slope, or a minus one slope.
—Rachel Feltman, Popular Science, 8 Nov. 2023
The water level at Memphis fell to a record-low elevation of minus 11.5 feet on Wednesday afternoon, according to data from the National Weather Service.
—Ritu Prasad, CNN, 11 Oct. 2023
The minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit temperature in Boston smashed the previous Feb. 4 record of minus 2 set in 1886.
—Dennis Romero, NBC News, 5 Feb. 2023
Preposition
The mercury plummeted to minus 3 with a wind chill of minus 25 at halftime of the contest played at Arrowhead Stadium.
—David K. Li, NBC News, 8 Mar. 2024
In the small town of Kotzebue, 550 miles (885 kilometers) by air to the northwest, temperatures of minus 30 Fahrenheit (minus 34.4 Celsius) and below caused heating fuel to thicken so much that home heating systems and stoves stopped working, the Anchorage Daily News reported.
—Mark Thiessen, Fortune, 2 Feb. 2024
Likely minus his signature turtleneck and shoulder gun holster, driving the new Mustang while channeling McQueen isn’t a bad way to go.
—James Raia, The Mercury News, 10 Mar. 2024
As the nation’s first National Park Service (NPS) site, the iconic landmark located in Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana might get the most attention, but another much quieter park offers similar volcanic activity, minus the crowds.
—Rachel Chang, Travel + Leisure, 5 Feb. 2024
To meet this challenge, Chao-Yang Wang at Penn State University has invented a technology that can heat up a battery from minus 60 degrees Fahrenheit – and fast-charge the battery to 80% of its capacity – all in less than 10 minutes.
—Laurent Belsie, The Christian Science Monitor, 24 Jan. 2024
The short-term rate was raised to a range of 0 to 0.1% from minus 0.1% at a policy meeting that confirmed expectations of a shift away from ultra-lax monetary policy.
—Yuri Kageyama, Quartz, 19 Mar. 2024
As part of the decision, the Bank of Japan (BOJ) raised its short-term interest rates to around 0 to 0.1% from minus 0.1%, according to a statement posted on its website on Tuesday.
—Laura He, CNN, 18 Mar. 2024
But net migration — the number of people who moved into the state, minus those who moved out — shrank markedly compared with the two previous years.
—Sahana Jayaraman, The Arizona Republic, 16 Mar. 2024
Noun
But that group was especially effective against the Warriors because of the play from Vanderbilt, who had an individual plus/minus of plus-30 in a career-high 41 minutes.
—Khobi Price, Orange County Register, 28 Jan. 2024
Dinwiddie’s actually led the Lakers in plus/minus since joining the team.
—Dan Woike, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2024
Click the plus to zoom in, and the minus button to zoom out.
—Scooty Nickerson, The Mercury News, 1 Mar. 2024
Still, Rozier did post the third-worst defensive estimated plus/minus among Hornets players this season and his point-of-attack defense will be an area to monitor.
—Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 24 Jan. 2024
The biggest minus to not shadowing Diggs is the Dolphins losing the AFC East title and having to make a trip to Kansas City for a first-round playoff game.
—Chris Perkins, Sun Sentinel, 4 Jan. 2024
Psychological knowledge can aid competitive performance under pressure, help evaluate the benefit of pursuing perfection and assess the pluses and minuses of high self-confidence.
—Tom Siegfried, Smithsonian Magazine, 13 Feb. 2024
Adebayo also ranks first on the Heat in advanced metrics like defensive win shares and defensive estimated plus/minus.
—Anthony Chiang, Miami Herald, 2 Feb. 2024
Offensively, the Ravens have had their ups and downs, but more pluses than minuses.
—Mike Preston, Baltimore Sun, 26 Jan. 2024
Adjective
Here’s a stat: At home this season against teams with sure-fire Hall of Famers, some of the elite scorers of our generation, the Heat entered 2-8 and a minus 94 entering tonight.
—Barry Jackson, Miami Herald, 11 Apr. 2024
That supported expectations that the Bank of Japan may soon make a shift in its longstanding ultra-lax monetary policy, which is underpinned by a minus 0.1% benchmark interest rate.
—Elaine Kurtenbach, Quartz, 27 Feb. 2024
On the top, the speaker has power, Bluetooth, and plus and minus buttons, along with battery life and LED status indicators.
—PCMAG, 6 Feb. 2024
Temperatures were minus 4 degrees F during kickoff with a minus 27 F wind chill.
—Mary Kekatos, ABC News, 16 Jan. 2024
The Fifth District Survey of Manufacturing Activity index came in at minus 11 points from the minus five reported in November.
—Emon Reiser, WSJ, 27 Dec. 2023
Graphed out using a logarithmic scale, this information showed up as a downward 45 degree slope, or a minus one slope.
—Rachel Feltman, Popular Science, 8 Nov. 2023
The water level at Memphis fell to a record-low elevation of minus 11.5 feet on Wednesday afternoon, according to data from the National Weather Service.
—Ritu Prasad, CNN, 11 Oct. 2023
The minus 10 degrees Fahrenheit temperature in Boston smashed the previous Feb. 4 record of minus 2 set in 1886.
—Dennis Romero, NBC News, 5 Feb. 2023
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'minus.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near minus
Cite this Entry
“Minus.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/minus. Accessed 19 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
minus
1 of 3 preposition
mi·nus
ˈmī-nəs
1
: with the subtraction of : less
7 minus 4 is 3
2
: without entry 1 sense 3a
minus his hat
minus
2 of 3 noun1
: a negative quantity
2
: a negative quality
especially
: disadvantage entry 1 sense 2b
minus
3 of 3 adjective1
: mathematically negative
4 plus minus 3
2
: falling low in a specified range
a grade of C minus
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