average
Americannoun
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averages
plural
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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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averages,
present (3rd person singular)
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averaged,
past participle, past
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averaging
present participle
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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)
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averages,
present (3rd person singular)
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averaged,
past participle, past
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averaging
present participle
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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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:
On average, lower basin states have consumed about twice as much as the upper basin over the last 25 years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026
During the same period, average levels of calcium and phosphorus decreased.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026
From 2016 to 2023, the average age of all mothers giving birth in the US rose from 28.7 to 29.6, according to a 2025 report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
The original claim — that younger adults, on average, consume somewhat less alcohol than previous generations at the same age — is supported by plenty of evidence.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
On an average night, one need engage in only a few minutes of channel surfing during prime-time hours to stumble across images of gangsta culture on television.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
Unemployment rates among the young are nearly four times higher than the non-youth and also much higher than global averages.
From BBC ● Aug. 3, 2026
Their population-weighted coastal averages range from roughly 7 to 10 millimeters per year.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 3, 2026
Still, on Thursday, the company reported same-store sales increased 7% in the second quarter, marking the ninth consecutive quarter of same-store sales growth that outpaced industry averages.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
“This will continue to see Russian crude exports reduced” by 1 million-2 million barrels per day compared with June averages, they say.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 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
Ethan Evans averaged nearly 61 yards for four punts.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 15, 2026
Locking in a guaranteed 3%, inflation-adjusted return for almost 30 years still isn’t competitive with the 6.8% or so U.S. equities have averaged over similar spans, also adjusted for inflation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
In California, a gallon of gasoline averaged about $5.60 on Monday, the highest price of any state in the country.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 11, 2026
According to Opta, Williams averaged 8.2 dribbles per 90 minutes last season in La Liga with only Lamine Yamal, Kevin and Jeremy Doku averaging more in Europe's top five leagues.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
I averaged the links that were hanging and used that to help me come up with twenty-six.
From "Because of Mr. Terupt" by Rob Buyea
More than 32,000 taxpayers had more than $10 million each in those accounts, averaging $17 million each, according to the congressional Joint Committee on Taxation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
The all-time high reflects the sheer amount of money people need to buy new cars now, with vehicle price tags averaging around $50,000.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026
According to Opta, Williams averaged 8.2 dribbles per 90 minutes last season in La Liga with only Lamine Yamal, Kevin and Jeremy Doku averaging more in Europe's top five leagues.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
The reserve for the WNBA’s Indiana Fever comes off the bench for the latter-day contenders, spelling for star Caitlin Clark and averaging a respectable eight points per game.
From Salon ● Aug. 9, 2026
I had 400 plants, probably averaging 5 potatoes each; 2000 taters.
From "The Martian" by Andy Weir
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.
