average
( averages plural & 3rd person present) ( averaging present participle) ( averaged past tense & past participle )
1 n-count An average is the result that you get when you add two or more numbers together and divide the total by the number of numbers you added together.
(=mean)
Take the average of those ratios and multiply by a hundred.
Average is also an adjective., adj ADJ n
(=mean)
The average price of goods rose by just 2.2%...
2 n-sing You use average to refer to a number or size that varies but is always approximately the same.
a N of amount
It takes an average of ten weeks for a house sale to be completed.
3 adj An average person or thing is typical or normal.
ADJ n
The average adult man burns 1,500 to 2,000 calories per day...
4 n-sing An amount or quality that is the average is the normal amount or quality for a particular group of things or people.
the N
(=norm)
Most areas suffered more rain than usual, with Northern Ireland getting double the average for the month.
Average is also an adjective., adj
£2.20 for a beer is average., ...a woman of average height.
5 adj Something that is average is neither very good nor very bad, usually when you had hoped it would be better.
I was only average academically.
6 verb To average a particular amount means to do, get, or produce that amount as an average over a period of time.
We averaged 42 miles per hour. V n
7 You say on average or on an average to indicate that a number is the average of several numbers.
♦
on average/on an average phrase PHR with cl
American shares rose, on average, by 38%...
8 If you say that something is true on average, you mean that it is generally true.
♦
on average phrase PHR with cl
On average, American firms remain the most productive in the world.
9
→
law of averages
→
law average out phrasal verb If a set of numbers average outto a particular figure or if you average them outto that figure, their average is calculated to be that figure.
There are six glasses of wine in one bottle, which averages out to 50p a glass... V P to/at n
Averaging it out between us there's less than £10 a month each to live on. V n P, Also V P n (not pron)