average

av|er|age1 [ `æv(ə)rıdʒ ] noun ***

1. ) count or uncount the amount, level, standard, etc. that is typical of a group of people or things:

Incomes here are nowhere near the national average.

above/below average: Her performance in the test was way below average.

2. ) singular or uncount an amount that is calculated by adding several numbers together and dividing the total by the original number of things you added together: MEAN:

Add 20, 10, and 30 and find the average.

average of: The people in the study lost an average of six pounds each.

on average

used for talking about what is usually true, although it may not be true in every individual situation:

On average, women live between five and seven years longer than men.

average

av|er|age 2 [ `æv(ə)rıdʒ ] adjective ***

1. ) around a usual or ordinary level or standard:

a child of average intelligence

He's about average height.

a ) neither good nor bad:

Her work as an actress has never been better than average.

b ) like most others of the same type:

The average child spends around ten hours a week watching television.

2. ) not very good: MEDIOCRE:

a decidedly average performance

3. ) only before noun calculated by adding a group of numbers together and dividing the total by the amount of numbers:

winds with an average speed of 15 miles per hour

╾ av|er|age|ly adverb

average

av|er|age 3 [ `æv(ə)rıdʒ ] verb *

transitive to usually do, have, involve, etc. a particular level or amount:

It's a small store, averaging around 500 customers a week.

The cost of developing a new drug now averages around $500 million.

,average `out phrasal verb

1. ) intransitive to have a particular number or amount as an average:

average out to/at: Total giving averages out to over $1,000 a week.

2. ) transitive to calculate the average of a set of numbers or amounts