- an act or instance of subducting; subtraction or withdrawal.
- the process by which collision of the earth's crustal plates results in one plate's being drawn down or overridden by another, localized along the juncture (subduction zone ) of two plates.
- the act of subducting, esp of turning the eye downwards
- the process of one tectonic plate sliding under another, resulting in tensions and faulting in the earth's crust, with earthquakes and volcanic eruptions
