House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, striking a conciliatory tone a day after the Republican Party’s electoral drubbing, said Wednesday that he was ready to accept a budget deal that raises federal revenue as long as it is linked to an overhaul of entitlements and a reform of the tax code that closes loopholes, curtails or eliminates deductions, and lowers income tax rates.

Boehner’s gesture was the most explicit offer he has made to avert the ‘‘fiscal cliff’’ in January, when billions of dollars in tax increases and automatic spending cuts go into force. And it came hours after Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., the majority leader, offered his own olive branch, saying ‘‘it’s better to dance than to fight.’’