minus

• POS: Adjective, Noun, Preposition
• HYPHEN: mi=nus

CIDE DICTIONARY

minus, a. [L. See Minor, and cf. Mis- pref. from the French.].

 Less; requiring to be subtracted; negative; as, a minus quantity.  [1913 Webster]

Minus sign (Math.), the sign [-] denoting minus, or less, prefixed to negative quantities, or quantities to be subtracted. See Negative sign, under Negative.

minus, n. 

 A factor counted as a disadvantage; a loss or potential loss in a situation or plan; as, he added up all the pluses and minuses and decided not to do it; as, the lack of money is a big minus in an election campaign.  [PJC]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

minus, prep., adj., & n.
--prep.
1 with the subtraction of (7 minus 4 equals 3).

Idiom

minus sign the symbol -, indicating subtraction or a negative value.

Usage

Symb.: -.
2 (of temperature) below zero (minus 2°).
3 colloq. lacking; deprived of (returned minus their dog).
--adj.
1 Math. negative.
2 Electronics having a negative charge.
--n.
1 = minus sign.
2 Math. a negative quantity.
3 a disadvantage.

Etymology

L, neut. of minor less

THESAURUS

minus

barring, bereaved, bereaved of, bereft, cut off, decrement, deduction, deficient, denuded, deprived of, devoid, discounting, divested, except, excepting, exception taken of, excluding, exclusive of, existless, from, inadequate, inferior, insufficient, lacking, leaving out, less, minuend, missing, negative, nonexistent, not counting, null, off, out of, parted from, plus, positive, robbed of, sans, save, shorn of, short, short of, stripped of, subtrahend, unexisting, unreached, vacuous, void, wanting, without, without being

ROGET THESAURUS

minus

Inferiority

N inferiority, minority, subordinacy, shortcoming, deficiency, minimum, smallness, imperfection, lower quality, lower worth, commonalty, inferior, smaller, small, minor, less, lesser, deficient, minus, lower, subordinate, secondary, secondrate, sub, subaltern, thrown into the shade, weighed in the balance and found wanting, not fit to hold a candle to, can't hold a candle to, least, smallest &c (little) (small), lowest, diminished, reduced, unimportant, less, under the mark, below the mark, below par, at the bottom of the scale, at a low ebb, at a disadvantage, short of, under.

Subtraction

N nonaddition, subtraction, subtraction, subduction, deduction, retrenchment, removal, withdrawal, ablation, sublation, abstraction, garbling mutilation, detruncation, amputation, abscission, excision, recision, curtailment, minuend, subtrahend, decrease, abrasion, subtracted, subtractive, in deduction, less, short of, minus, without, except, except for, excepting, with the exception of, barring, save, exclusive of, save and except, with a reservation, not counting, if one doesn't count.

Loss

N loss, deperdition, perdition, forfeiture, lapse, privation, bereavement, deprivation, riddance, damage, squandering, waste, losing, not having, shorn of, deprived of, denuded, bereaved, bereft, minus, cut off, dispossessed, rid of, quit of, out of pocket, lost, long lost, irretrievable, off one's hands, Int, farewell to!, adieu to.

Debt

N debt, obligation, liability, indebtment, debit, score, bill, check, account (credit), arrears, deferred payment, deficit, default, insolvency, bad debt, interest, premium, usance, usury, floating debt, floating capital, debtor, debitor, mortgagor, defaulter, borrower, indebted, liable, chargeable, answerable for, in debt, in embarrassed circumstances, in difficulties, incumbered, involved, involved in debt, plunged in debt, deep in debt, over one's head in debt, over head and ears in debt, deeply involved, fast tied up, insolvent, minus, out of pocket, unpaid, unrequited, unrewarded, owing, due, in arrear, outstanding, past due, aes alienum debitorem leve gravius inimicum facit, neither a borrower nor a lender be.

Nonpayment

N nonpayment, default, defalcation, protest, repudiation, application of the sponge, whitewashing, insolvency, bankruptcy, failure, insufficiency, run upon a bank, overdrawn account, waste paper bonds, dishonored bills, protested bills, bogus check, bogus cheque, rubber check, bankrupt, insolvent, debtor, lame duck, man of straw, welsher, stag, defaulter, levanter, not paying, non-paying, non-performing, in debt, behindhand, in arrear, behind in payments, in arrears, beggared, unable to make both ends meet, minus, worse than nothing, worthless, insolvent, bankrupt, in the gazette, gazetted, unpaid, gratis, unremunerated.

Absence

N absence, inexistence, nonresidence, absenteeism, nonattendance, alibi, emptiness, void, vacuum, vacuity, vacancy, tabula rasa, exemption, hiatus, lipotype, truant, absentee, nobody, nobody present, nobody on earth, not a soul, ame qui vive, absent, not present, away, nonresident, gone, from home, missing, lost, wanting, omitted, nowhere to be found, inexistence, empty, void, vacant, vacuous, untenanted, unoccupied, uninhabited, tenantless, barren, sterile, desert, deserted, devoid, uninhabitable, without, minus, nowhere, elsewhere, neither here nor there, in default of, sans, behind one's back, the bird has flown, non est inventus, absence makes the heart grow fonder, absent in body but present in spirit, absento nemo ne nocuisse velit, Achilles absent was Achilles still, aux absents les os, briller par son absence, conspicuous by his absence, in the hope to meet shortly again and make our abs.

Shortcoming

N shortcoming, failure, falling short, default, defalcation, leeway, labor in vain, no go, incompleteness, imperfection, insufficiency, noncompletion, failure, unreached, deficient, short, short of, minus, out of depth, perfunctory, within the mark, within the compass, within the bounds, behindhand, re infecta, to no purpose, for from it, the bubble burst.