average
Americannoun
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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.
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a typical amount, rate, degree, etc.; norm.
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Statistics. arithmetic mean.
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Mathematics. a quantity intermediate to a set of quantities.
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Commerce.
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a charge paid by the master of a ship for such services as pilotage or towage.
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an expense, partial loss, or damage to a ship or cargo.
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the incidence of such an expense or loss to the owners or their insurers.
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an equitable apportionment among all the interested parties of such an expense or loss.
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adjective
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of or relating to an average; estimated by average; forming an average.
The average rainfall there is 180 inches.
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typical; common; ordinary.
The average secretary couldn't handle such a workload. His grades were nothing special, only average.
verb (used with object)
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to find an average value for (a variable quantity); reduce to a mean.
We averaged the price of milk in five neighborhood stores.
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(of a variable quantity) to have as its arithmetic mean.
Wheat averages 56 pounds to a bushel.
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to do or have on the average.
He averages seven hours of sleep a night.
verb (used without object)
verb phrase
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average up to purchase more of a security or commodity at a higher price to take advantage of a contemplated further rise in prices.
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average out
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to come out of a security or commodity transaction with a profit or without a loss.
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to reach an average or other figure.
His taxes should average out to about a fifth of his income.
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average down to purchase more of a security or commodity at a lower price to reduce the average cost of one's holdings.
idioms
noun
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the typical or normal amount, quality, degree, etc
above average in intelligence
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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
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(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
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maritime law
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a loss incurred or damage suffered by a ship or its cargo at sea
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the equitable apportionment of such loss among the interested parties
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(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
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usually; typically
on average, he goes twice a week
adjective
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usual or typical
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mediocre or inferior
his performance was only average
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constituting a numerical average
the average age
an average speed
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approximately typical of a range of values
the average contents of a matchbox
verb
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(tr) to obtain or estimate a numerical average of
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(tr) to assess the general quality of
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(tr) to perform or receive a typical number of
to average eight hours' work a day
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(tr) to divide up proportionately
they averaged the profits among the staff
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(tr) to amount to or be on average
the children averaged 15 years of age
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(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
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A number, especially the arithmetic mean, that is derived from and considered typical or representative of a set of numbers.
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Compare arithmetic mean median mode
Usage
What’s the difference between average, mean, median, and mode? 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.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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averagenessnoun
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superaveragenessnoun
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averageableadjective
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subaverageadjective
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superaverageadjective
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unaveragedadjective
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underaverageadjective
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well-averagedadjective
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averagelyadverb
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subaveragelyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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averagesimple
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averagessimple
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have averagedperfect
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has averagedperfect
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am averagingprogressive
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are averagingprogressive
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is averagingprogressive
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have been averagingperfect progressive
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has been averagingperfect progressive
Past
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averagedsimple
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had averagedperfect
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was averagingprogressive
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were averagingprogressive
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had been averagingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of average
First recorded in 1485–95; earlier averay “charge on goods shipped,” originally, “duty” (with -age replacing -ay ), from Middle French avarie, from Old Italian avaria, of disputed origin; perhaps from Arabic ʿawārīyah “damaged merchandise” (from ʿawār “blemish, fault, flaw”) or akin to Old French aveir, avoir “goods, property” ( see avoirdupois ( def. ))
Explanation
If something is average, it's ordinary and not very special. You might say a movie was average if you thought it was just okay. Average can describe what's true most of the time, as in, “The average rainfall in Seattle is fifty-two inches.” It can also be used in a mathematical and more precise way. On his English tests, Dylan received grades of 92%, 85% and 94%. His average grade was 90%, or the sum of the test scores divided by the number of tests taken.
Vocabulary lists containing average
Baseball: A Lexicon
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Words for the World Series
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Commonly Confused Words, List 2
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Rahmstorf accepts that global warming could soften the cooling effect in average temperatures.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
"Above average temperatures and dangerous levels of heat are forecast to enter the Northeast on Tuesday before the most intense heat occurs on Wednesday and expands into the Mid-Atlantic," said the US National Weather Service.
From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026
In 1963, the average woman in the U.S. had 3.27 children.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 14, 2026
The ratio of negative to positive earnings preannouncements is near multiyear lows and well below its long-term average for both large- and small-cap companies.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
All over Japan, people began to realize that this was not an average event.
From "Meltdown" by Deirdre Langeland
It also doesn’t help that when talking about cliffs, scientists tend to speak in averages.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
The temperatures, well above seasonal averages, could break records, the National Weather Service warned.
From Barron's ● Jul. 11, 2026
Turnover after one year of employment at Costco is around 7%, a fraction of industry averages.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 8, 2026
The basic price for Walk Your Plans services averages about $1,000 to $1,500 per hour, and most projects can be completed in about two hours.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026
The average income for the top 0.1 percent was $3 million in 2002, the latest year for which averages are available.
From "Class Matters" by The New York Times
Prices averaged $3.86 a gallon on Tuesday, according to AAA.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
In her sole season with the Sparks, Nurse averaged 7.6 points per game.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 14, 2026
Messi has averaged the shortest distance of all Argentina outfield players to have featured for 20-plus minutes at the tournament - covering just 8.2km per 90 minutes.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
“This would be a lower-than-average Part B increase, which has averaged 5.4% per year over the past decade,” Johnson said.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
But by 1903, automotive horsepower had greatly improved— one car averaged 65.3 mph in a cross-European race that season—making the races a good spectacle.
From "Seabiscuit: An American Legend" by Laura Hillenbrand
He is averaging just 2.7 sprints per match, compared to 5.3 just four years ago.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
That’s based on margin-debt growth averaging 50.5% in the 10th decile.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
The hotel has been a popular destination for the jet-set ski crowd since opening in 1989, with room rates averaging $2,300 a night during the busy winter season for its 92 rooms.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
Rui Hachimura played at a high level for the Lakers in the playoffs, averaging 17.5 points per game in 10 postseason games, the third-highest average on the team.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 7, 2026
At the cafeteria, where a shrinking slice of my consciousness still resided, Daisy was telling Mychal that his averaging project shouldn’t be about people named Mychal but about imprisoned men who’d later been exonerated.
From "Turtles All the Way Down" by John Green
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.
