Minus means to subtract or take away. In math, when you see 10 minus 3, you're removing 3 from 10, leaving you with 7. The minus sign (−) tells you to subtract the number that comes after it.

Outside of math, minus describes something that's missing or lacking. If you arrive at soccer practice minus your cleats, you showed up without them. When someone says “I'd love to go swimming, minus the part where the water's freezing,” they mean they'd enjoy everything except that one thing.

The word also describes temperatures below zero. Minus 5 degrees means 5 degrees below zero, cold enough that you'd definitely want a heavy coat. Scientists write this as −5°.

In everyday conversation, people sometimes use minus to point out a flaw or downside. You might say a book report went well, minus the moment you accidentally called the main character by the wrong name. It's a casual way of noting what didn't work while acknowledging that most things did.