decimal place

noun

: the position of a digit as counted to the right of the decimal point in a decimal

Examples of decimal place in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Your scale should measure over one kilogram, to at least one decimal place. Eleanor Hildebrandt, Popular Mechanics, 30 June 2021 In 1949 the electronic computer ENIAC was used for 70 machine hours to calculate pi to more than 2,000 decimal places. Jeffery Delviscio, Scientific American, 14 Mar. 2023 Rajveer Meena holds the record for reciting the most number of decimal places of pi. Michelle Lou, CNN, 14 Mar. 2023 The highest and lowest scores for each run or trick are dropped, and the remaining three scores are averaged to one decimal place resulting in the final score. Los Angeles Times, 18 July 2021 The team measured the constant’s value to the 11th decimal place, reporting that α = 1/137.03599920611. Quanta Magazine, 2 Dec. 2020 High-tech for that time, the scoreboard was programmed to light up three digits — with a decimal place affixed after the first number. Tim Reynolds, Star Tribune, 8 Aug. 2020 If space is a true continuum, then to describe even something as simple as the distance between two points requires an infinite amount of information, specified by a number with infinitely many decimal places. Quanta Magazine, 30 June 2016 Of course, the actual number continues to an infinite number of decimal places: 3.14159265359 … and so on, forever. Rhett Allain, Wired, 13 Mar. 2020 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'decimal place.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1706, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of decimal place was in 1706

Dictionary Entries Near decimal place

Cite this Entry

“Decimal place.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/decimal%20place. Accessed 27 Sep. 2023.

Kids Definition

decimal place

noun
: any of the places to the right of the decimal point in a number expressed in decimal notation
5.732 has three decimal places
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