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<span id="g_t_0040minus"></span><div class="header">
<p>
Next: <a href="_0040geq-_0040leq.html" accesskey="n" rel="next"><code>@geq @leq</code></a>, Previous: <a href="_0040textdegree.html" accesskey="p" rel="prev"><code>@textdegree</code></a>, Up: <a href="Glyphs-for-Text.html" accesskey="u" rel="up">Glyphs for Text</a> [<a href="index.html#SEC_Contents" title="Table of contents" rel="contents">Contents</a>][<a href="Command-and-Variable-Index.html" title="Index" rel="index">Index</a>]</p>
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<span id="g_t_0040minus-_0028_2212_0029_003a-Inserting-a-Minus-Sign"></span><h4 class="subsection">12.8.9 <code>@minus</code> (-): Inserting a Minus Sign</h4>
<span id="minus"></span><span id="index-minus"></span>
<span id="index-Minus-sign"></span>
<span id="index-Em-dash_002c-compared-to-minus-sign"></span>
<span id="index-Hyphen_002c-compared-to-minus"></span>
<p>Use the <code>@minus{}</code> command to generate a minus sign. In a
fixed-width font, this is a single hyphen, but in a proportional font,
the symbol is the customary length for a minus sign—a little longer
than a hyphen, shorter than an em-dash:
</p>
<div class="display">
<pre class="display">‘<samp>-</samp>’ is a minus sign generated with ‘<samp>@minus{}</samp>’,
‘-’ is a hyphen generated with the character ‘<samp>-</samp>’,
‘—’ is an em-dash for text.
</pre></div>
<p>In the fixed-width font used by Info, <code>@minus{}</code> is the same
as a hyphen.
</p>
<p>You should not use <code>@minus{}</code> inside <code>@code</code> or
<code>@example</code> because the width distinction is not made in the
fixed-width font they use.
</p>
<p>When you use <code>@minus</code> to specify the mark beginning each entry
in an itemized list, you do not need to type the braces
(see <a href="_0040itemize.html"><code>@itemize</code></a>).
</p>
<p>If you actually want to typeset some math that does a subtraction, it
is better to use <code>@math</code>. Then the regular ‘<samp>-</samp>’ character
produces a minus sign, as in <code>@math{a-b}</code> (see <a href="Inserting-Math.html">Inserting Math</a>).
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