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The Many Uses of Extrapolate
Scientists worry about the greenhouse effect because they have extrapolated the rate of carbon-dioxide buildup and predicted that its effect on the atmosphere will become increasingly severe. On the basis of their extrapolations, they have urged governments and businesses to limit factory and automobile emissions. Notice that it's acceptable to speak of extrapolating existing data (to produce new data), extrapolating from existing data (to produce new data), or extrapolating new data (from existing data)—in other words, it isn't easy to use this word wrong.
Examples of extrapolate in a Sentence
Allison Palmer
updated June 13, Sacbee.com, 13 June 2026
These close-range interactions cause the particles to act collectively rather than as independent units, generating physical properties that cannot be extrapolated by looking at single, isolated atoms.
—Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 7 June 2026
While enrollment is on the up and up now, Scherzberg extrapolated on why higher education institutions are taking these demographic shifts so seriously.
—Elizabeth Hernandez, Denver Post, 31 May 2026
Second, Tesla’s evidence appears to be a non-representative sample from the Tesla factory, so it cannot reasonably be extrapolated to the whole Tesla factory.
—ArsTechnica, 27 May 2026
See All Example Sentences for extrapolate
Cite this Entry
“Extrapolate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/extrapolate. Accessed 19 Jun. 2026.
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extrapolate
verb
