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average
[av-er-ij, av-rij]
noun
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.Ìýarithmetic mean.
Mathematics.Ìýa quantity intermediate to a set of quantities.
Commerce.Ìý
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.
adjective
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.
verb (used with object)
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.
verb (used without object)
to have or show an average.
to average as expected.
verb phrase
to purchase more of a security or commodity at a higher price to take advantage of a contemplated further rise in prices.
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.
to purchase more of a security or commodity at a lower price to reduce the average cost of one's holdings.
average
/ ˈævrɪdʒ, ˈævərɪdʒ /
noun
the typical or normal amount, quality, degree, etc
above average in intelligence
Also called: arithmetic mean.Ìýthe 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
usually; typically
on average, he goes twice a week
adjective
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
verb
(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
average
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
Other 51³Ô¹Ï Forms
- averageable adjective
- averagely adverb
- averageness noun
- subaverage adjective
- subaveragely adverb
- superaverage adjective
- superaverageness noun
- unaveraged adjective
- underaverage adjective
- well-averaged adjective
- ˈ²¹±¹±ð°ù²¹²µ±ð²Ô±ð²õ²õ noun
- ˈ²¹±¹±ð°ù²¹²µ±ð±ô²â adverb
51³Ô¹Ï History and Origins
Origin of average1
51³Ô¹Ï History and Origins
Origin of average1
Idioms and Phrases
on the / an average, usually; typically.
She can read 50 pages an hour, on the average.
Example Sentences
The signs were good for Gill when he averaged almost 52 in three Tests in Australia as India lifted the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.
There are plans to scrap the Saturday 18:45 evening slot on Sky Sports as average attendances at that time have been low across the WSL.
In the first act of Flanagan’s movie — that’s Act 3 for those who need to be reminded that “Life of Chuck†is not your average narrative feature, okay! — the world is ending.
She led the Division 1 champions in hitting with a .435 average, including eight home runs.
Outfielder, Anthony Murphy, Corona, Jr.: He led Corona in hitting with a .415 average, including 49 hits and 11 home runs, and 35 RBIs.
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When To Use
In the context of mathematics and statistics, the word average refers to what’s more formally called the mean, which is the sum of a set of values divided by the number of values. In contrast, the median is the middle number in a set of values when those values are arranged from smallest to largest, while the mode of a set of values is the most frequently repeated value in the set.The word average is of course also very commonly used in more general ways. In math, though, it’s helpful to use more specific terms when determining the most representative or common value in a set of numbers.To illustrate the difference, let’s look at an example set of seven values: 2, 3, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9.To get the mean of this set, you’d add up all the values (2+3+3+4+6+8+9=35) and then divide that total by the number of values (7), resulting in a mean of 5. This is what most people are referring to when they refer to the average of some set of numbers.To find the median, you have to find the one that’s sequentially in the middle. In a set of seven numbers arranged in increasing value, the median is the fourth number (since there are three before and three after). In this set (2, 3, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9), the median is 4. When a set has an even number of values, the median is the mean of the two middle values.The mode is simply the value that shows up the most. In the example set, the mode is 3, since it occurs twice and all the other values occur only once.Want to learn more? Read the full breakdown of the difference between average, mean, median, and mode.
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
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