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subduct

[ suhb-duhkt ]

verb (used with object)

  1. to take away; subtract.
  2. Geology. (of a crustal plate ) to collide with (a denser plate), drawing it down and overriding it, along the juncture of the two plates.


verb (used without object)

  1. Geology. (of a crustal plate ) to slide beneath a less dense plate as a consequence of the two plates’ colliding.

subduct

/ səbˈdʌkt /

verb

  1. physiol to draw or turn (the eye, etc) downwards
  2. rare.
    to take away; deduct
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Other Words From

  • un·sub·duct·ed adjective
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Word History and Origins

Origin of subduct1

First recorded in 1550–60; from Latin subductus, past participle of subdūcere “to draw up, withdraw”
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Word History and Origins

Origin of subduct1

C17: from Latin subdūcere, from sub- + dūcere to lead, bring
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Example Sentences

These can provide information as to whether the carbon originates from a plant or from the atmosphere or was released from a subducted rock.

The oceanic crust along the coast of the Atlantic is old and heavy, so it is primed to subduct, but before it can do so, it must break and bend.

The zone where the islands switched from being subducted to being accreted would have been under incredible strain and been ripped apart.

Continental tectonic plates, unlike their dense oceanic cousins, are thick and buoyant, so they don’t easily sink, or subduct, into the mantle during collisions.

The deep ocean is never preserved, but instead is lost to time as the seafloor is subducted.

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