median
noun
\
Definition of median
(Entry 1 of 2)
1 : a medial (see medial sense 2b) part (such as a vein or nerve)
2a : a value in an ordered set of values below and above which there is an equal number of values or which is the arithmetic mean of the two middle values if there is no one middle number
b : a vertical line that divides the histogram of a frequency distribution into two parts of equal area
c : a value of a random variable for which all greater values make the cumulative distribution function greater than one half and all lesser values make it less than one half
3a : a line from a vertex (see vertex sense 2) of a triangle to the midpoint of the opposite side
b : a line joining the midpoints of the nonparallel sides of a trapezoid (see trapezoid sense 1a)
4 : median strip
median
adjectiveDefinition of median (Entry 2 of 2)
1 : being in the middle or in an intermediate position : medial
2 : lying in the plane dividing a bilateral animal into right and left halves
3 : relating to or constituting a statistical median
4 : produced without occlusion along the lengthwise middle line of the tongue
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Synonyms & Antonyms for median
Synonyms: Adjective
central, halfway, intermediary, intermediate, medial, mediate, medium, mid, middle, midmost
Antonyms: Adjective
extreme, farthest, farthermost, furthermost, furthest, outermost, outmost, remotest, utmost
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Examples of median in a Sentence
Adjective
What is the median price of homes in this area? the median price of a home in the areaRecent Examples on the Web: Noun
Income for blacks at the median and lower-income segment saw a bigger increase than comparable whites and kept pace in the higher-income bracket. — David Carrig, USA TODAY, "Study: Asians displace blacks as most economically divided group," 12 July 2018 The driver of the pickup truck lost control of the vehicle, crossed over the median and went into oncoming lanes of traffic before striking a metal barricade, police said. — Samantha Ketterer, Houston Chronicle, "Passenger killed in alleged drunken-driving rollover crash near Johnson Space Center," 11 May 2018 Other goals are to show mifepristone can keep cancer stable for a median of 15 weeks — five weeks longer than with last-resort chemo — and improve quality of life. — Marie Mccullough, Philly.com, "Can the abortion pill treat advanced lung cancer? This infertility expert wants to find out," 3 July 2018 Privacy - Terms The report states that people who sold their homes in Miami in 2017 held them a median of 11 years. — Rene Rodriguez, miamiherald, "Miami home sellers made a nice profit in 2017. Just not quite enough for a new place.," 26 June 2018 Women also tend to leave bigger tips than men, a median of 20% compared to 16%. — Natasha Bach, Fortune, "Millennials Are America's Worst Tippers," 18 June 2018 Henry, prosecutors say, barreled down the highway off ramp, hit a median and went airborne. — Vic Ryckaert, Indianapolis Star, "Friend of drunken driving crash victim: 'I will never forget what Joe did for me'," 28 June 2018 The truck backed into the front passenger side of the patrol car — knocking off the bumper — then hit a stop sign in the median. — Jeff Weiner, OrlandoSentinel.com, "Deputy woke driver passed out at a green light. Then, driver backed up — knocking off the deputy's bumper.," 28 June 2018 Cornist lives minutes away from the new BART line, which travels in the median of Highway 4, where traffic creeps in the morning and evening and sometimes in between. — Michael Cabanatuan, San Francisco Chronicle, "What’s that smell? It’s a clean train car on BART’s new line," 25 May 2018Recent Examples on the Web: Adjective
The median home price of $255,000 is still up 11.3 percent annually, according to Zillow, an online real estate database firm. — Paul Davidson, USA TODAY, "Home prices are high. What could cool them down?," 12 July 2018 In May, the median price of a home in the San Antonio-New Braunfels metro area hit a new high of $228,000, according to the Texas A&M Real Estate Center. — Richard Webner, San Antonio Express-News, "San Antonio ranks low in number of million-dollar homes," 12 July 2018 The median price of a new development apartment was down 13.7% to $1.4 million, while new development sales slid by 32%. — WSJ, "Slowdown in Home Sales Spreads to Brooklyn and Queens," 12 July 2018 Howard County continues to have the most expensive homes, with median sales prices in June up 2.4 percent to $448,000. — Meredith Cohn, baltimoresun.com, "With inventory tight, home prices continue to rise in Baltimore region," 11 July 2018 San Francisco County tops with a median home price of $1.6 million and $333,270 minimum qualifying income, followed closely by San Mateo and Santa Clara counties just to the south of the city, according to the California Association of Realtors. — Gabby Ferreira, sacbee, "San Francisco is expensive — and rents are the highest in the world, study says," 9 July 2018 The median price for May was nearly $500,000, up $6,110 from a year ago, according to a home sales report from the Northwest Multiple Listing Service. — Danielle Chastaine, The Seattle Times, "Gig Harbor ponders next moves as residential-development moratorium nears end," 8 July 2018 That's about $65,000 more than the area's median existing house sale price. — Catherine Reagor, azcentral, "Metro Phoenix homebuilding hits decade high," 8 July 2018 The national median home price reached $245,000 in the second quarter of this year, up 75 percent from the lows at the beginning of 2012, according to a recent report by ATTOM Data Solutions. — Jonnelle Marte, chicagotribune.com, "Black homeownership is stuck near 30-year lows," 6 July 2018These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'median.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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More Definitions for median
median
noun
English Language Learners Definition of median
(Entry 1 of 2)
mathematics : the middle value in a series of values arranged from smallest to largest
median
adjectiveEnglish Language Learners Definition of median (Entry 2 of 2)
: in the middle; especially mathematics : having a value that is in the middle of a series of values arranged from smallest to largest
See the full definition for median in the English Language Learners Dictionary
median
nounKids Definition of median
: a value in a series arranged from smallest to largest below and above which there are an equal number of values or which is the average of the two middle values if there is no one middle value The median of the set 1, 3, 7, 12, 19 is 7.
median
noun
\
Medical Definition of median
(Entry 1 of 2)
1 : a medial part (as a vein or nerve)
2a : a value in an ordered set of values below and above which there is an equal number of values or which is the arithmetic mean of the two middle values if there is no one middle number
b : a vertical line that divides the histogram of a frequency distribution into two parts of equal area
median
adjectiveMedical Definition of median (Entry 2 of 2)
: situated in the middle specifically : lying in a plane dividing a bilateral animal into right and left halves
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