subtractern.

1645 T. Urquhart Trissotetras 49 In the first Resolver, it is the third proportionall; and in the second, the first, and consequently a multiplyer in the one, and in the other a divider: or Logarithmically in the second a subtracter, and in the first an adder.

1818 H. J. Todd Johnson's Dict. Eng. Lang. Subtracter, the number to be taken out of a larger number.

?a1825 M. Faraday Chem. Notes (1991) 57 Chlorate of potassa an excellent subtracter of oxygen.

1828 N. Webster Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. Subtracter, he that subtracts.

1873 E. Bulwer-Lytton Kenelm Chillingly I. ii. iii. 149 These heroes, professional subtracters from hostile, and multipliers of friendly, populations.

1904 H. B. Howell Foundational Study Pedagogy Arithm. ii. 288 It was not expected that evidences of the working of the Ebbinghaus law would be found among the practiced subtracters of the upper grades.

1975 Contemp. Lit. 16 160 Elkin is an adder and multiplier, not a subtracter or divider; the expansive characters he creates and the verbal performances that are his strength need the length and openness of the novel.

2006 Grand Rapids (Mich.) Press (Nexis) 31 Dec. d4 The government goes from being an adder to company revenues to a subtracter.

1950 W. W. Stifler High-speed Computing Devices (Engin. Res. Associates) xiii. 284 The subtracter which is subtracting a large number from a smaller generates an extra carry pulse at the end of the arithmetic operation.

1970 IEEE Trans. Computers 19 720/1 A cascade of these subtracters, controlled by a multiplier recorder, provides multiplication.

2004 M. R. Fisch Liquid Crystals, Laptops & Life xiii. 245 Since multiplication is repeated addition and division is repeated subtraction, adders and subtracters allow the basic arithmetic operations to be performed.