average
a quantity, rating, or the like that represents or approximates an arithmetic mean: Her golf average is in the 90s. My average in science has gone from B to C this semester.
a typical amount, rate, degree, etc.; norm.
Statistics. arithmetic mean.
Mathematics. a quantity intermediate to a set of quantities.
Commerce.
a charge paid by the master of a ship for such services as pilotage or towage.
an expense, partial loss, or damage to a ship or cargo.
the incidence of such an expense or loss to the owners or their insurers.
an equitable apportionment among all the interested parties of such an expense or loss.: Compare general average, particular average.
of or relating to an average; estimated by average; forming an average: The average rainfall there is 180 inches.
typical; common; ordinary: The average secretary couldn't handle such a workload. His grades were nothing special, only average.
to find an average value for (a variable quantity); reduce to a mean: We averaged the price of milk in five neighborhood stores.
(of a variable quantity) to have as its arithmetic mean: Wheat averages 56 pounds to a bushel.
to do or have on the average: He averages seven hours of sleep a night.
to have or show an average: to average as expected.
average down, to purchase more of a security or commodity at a lower price to reduce the average cost of one's holdings.
average out,
to come out of a security or commodity transaction with a profit or without a loss.
to reach an average or other figure: His taxes should average out to about a fifth of his income.
average up, to purchase more of a security or commodity at a higher price to take advantage of a contemplated further rise in prices.
Idioms about average
on the / an average, usually; typically: She can read 50 pages an hour, on the average.
Origin of average
1Other words from average
- av·er·age·a·ble, adjective
- av·er·age·ly, adverb
- av·er·age·ness, noun
- sub·av·er·age, adjective
- sub·av·er·age·ly, adverb
- su·per·av·er·age, adjective
- su·per·av·er·age·ness, noun
- un·av·er·aged, adjective
- un·der·av·er·age, adjective
- well-av·er·aged, adjective
Words Nearby average
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use average in a sentence
That is roughly in line with a Post average of recent polls from the state that put Biden’s advantage at seven points.
Election live updates: Trump returns to Wisconsin; Biden to face live audience at town hall | Colby Itkowitz, Felicia Sonmez, John Wagner | September 17, 2020 | Washington PostFiveThirtyEight’s average of state polls at the end of the 2016 race gave Clinton a five-point lead in Wisconsin and an eight-point lead in Minnesota.
The key shifts in Minnesota and Wisconsin that have improved Biden’s chances of victory | Philip Bump | September 16, 2020 | Washington PostSince the lockout of 2004-05, five cup winners have averaged fewer goals per game.
Teams Don’t Win The Stanley Cup With A Goal Deficit. Can The Dallas Stars Change That? | Terrence Doyle | September 16, 2020 | FiveThirtyEightThe Wisconsin poll is consistent with other recent polls in the state, with The Post’s average showing Biden’s margin at seven points, narrower than in midsummer but not much different from what it was immediately after the GOP convention.
Post-ABC Wisconsin poll shows Biden holding narrow edge over Trump | Dan Balz, Emily Guskin | September 16, 2020 | Washington PostThat is a somewhat larger margin than a Washington Post average of recent polls in the state, which shows Biden’s lead to be seven percentage points.
Trump, in town hall, says he wouldn’t have done anything differently on pandemic | Colby Itkowitz, Josh Dawsey, Felicia Sonmez, John Wagner | September 16, 2020 | Washington Post
Well over a thousand holes in, I average less than four strokes per hole.
Lost For Thousands of Strokes: 'Desert Golfing' Is 'Angry Birds' as Modern Art | Alec Kubas-Meyer | January 2, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTOn average, the vaccine has an efficacy of about 60 percent.
When You Get the Flu This Winter, You Can Blame Anti-Vaxxers | Kent Sepkowitz | January 1, 2015 | THE DAILY BEASTaverage age ranges from 45 to 65, with her youngest client at 18 and the oldest in her 80s.
Ramos was 38—nearly two decades older than the average recruit.
All because Murthy believes that gun violence, which kills an average of 86 Americans every day, is a public health issue.
I do not think the average number of passengers on a corresponding route in our country could be so few as twenty.
Glances at Europe | Horace GreeleyThough the average speaker is generally limited by one type of voice, which he varies somewhat, it is not often disguised.
Expressive Voice Culture | Jessie Eldridge SouthwickI should judge that a peck of corn is about the average product of a day's work through all this region.
Glances at Europe | Horace GreeleyThe average citizen of three generations ago was probably not aware that he was an extreme individualist.
The Unsolved Riddle of Social Justice | Stephen LeacockHe was a pretty bright sort, that same Goodell, quick-witted, nimble of tongue above the average Englishman.
Raw Gold | Bertrand W. Sinclair
British Dictionary definitions for average
/ (ˈævərɪdʒ, ˈævrɪdʒ) /
the typical or normal amount, quality, degree, etc: above average in intelligence
Also called: arithmetic mean the result obtained by adding the numbers or quantities in a set and dividing the total by the number of members in the set: the average of 3, 4, and 8 is 5
(of a continuously variable ratio, such as speed) the quotient of the differences between the initial and final values of the two quantities that make up the ratio: his average over the journey was 30 miles per hour
maritime law
a loss incurred or damage suffered by a ship or its cargo at sea
the equitable apportionment of such loss among the interested parties
(often plural) stock exchange a simple or weighted average of the prices of a selected group of securities computed in order to facilitate market comparisons
on average, on the average or on an average usually; typically: on average, he goes twice a week
usual or typical
mediocre or inferior: his performance was only average
constituting a numerical average: the average age; an average speed
approximately typical of a range of values: the average contents of a matchbox
(tr) to obtain or estimate a numerical average of
(tr) to assess the general quality of
(tr) to perform or receive a typical number of: to average eight hours' work a day
(tr) to divide up proportionately: they averaged the profits among the staff
(tr) to amount to or be on average: the children averaged 15 years of age
(intr) stock exchange to purchase additional securities in a holding whose price has fallen (average down) or risen (average up) in anticipation of a speculative profit after further increases in price
Origin of average
1Derived forms of average
- averagely, adverb
- averageness, noun
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
Scientific definitions for average
[ ăv′ər-ĭj ]
A number, especially the arithmetic mean, that is derived from and considered typical or representative of a set of numbers. Compare arithmetic mean median mode.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Cultural definitions for average
The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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