average

³average

verb

av·er·agedav·er·ag·ing

Definition of AVERAGE

intransitive verb

1

a : to be or come to an average <the gain averaged out to 20 percent> b : to have a medial value of <a color averaging a pale purple>

2

: to buy on a falling market or sell on a rising market additional shares or commodities so as to obtain a more favorable average price —usually used with down or up

transitive verb

1

: to do, get, or have on the average or as an average sum or quantity <averages 12 hours of work a day>

2

: to find the arithmetic mean of (a series of unequal quantities)

3

a : to bring toward the average b : to divide among a number proportionately

Examples of AVERAGE

1. The teacher averaged the students' grades.
2. What figure do you get when you average the amount of rainfall for the last three months?

First Known Use of AVERAGE

1769