plus or minus
adjectiveDefinition of plus or minus
(Entry 1 of 2)
: indicating a quantity whose algebraically positive and negative values serve to bracket a range of values either alone or when added to and subtracted from a given number measured with an accuracy of plus or minus 3 feet
plus or minus
adverbDefinition of plus or minus (Entry 2 of 2)
: more or less, approximately a dance for singles plus or minus age 30
Keep scrolling for more
Synonyms & Antonyms for plus or minus
Synonyms: Adverb
about, approximately, around, like, more or less, much, near, roughly, say, some
Antonyms: Adverb
Visit the Thesaurus for More
Examples of plus or minus in a Sentence
Adverb
I have plus or minus five dollars in change.Recent Examples on the Web: Adverb
The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points. — Fox News, "AP-NORC Poll: Majority approve of Trump's North Korea effort," 22 June 2018 The margin of error for overall results is plus or minus five percentage points. — Scott Clement, Washington Post, "The public rejected Trump’s child-separation policy, but a majority supports his push to detain families until court hearings," 13 July 2018 The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points. — Fox News, "AP-NORC Poll: Majority approve of Trump's North Korea effort," 22 June 2018 The margin of sampling error for all respondents is plus or minus 4.1 percentage points. — The Christian Science Monitor, "Poll: Most Americans approve of Trump's handling of North Korea," 21 June 2018 The margin of sampling error for all adults is plus or minus 3 percentage points. — David Bauder, chicagotribune.com, "Poll: Americans want more of what journalists want to report," 11 June 2018 Results have an error estimate of plus or minus 1.5 percentage points. — Andrew Arenge, NBC News, "Poll: 64 percent of Americans say racism remains a major problem," 29 May 2018 The margin of error for the poll is plus or minus four percentage points. — John Wildermuth, San Francisco Chronicle, "Moment in political spotlight for little-known GOP candidate for Senate," 26 Apr. 2018 Last month’s gain came with a margin of error of plus or minus half a percentage point. — Sarah Chaney, WSJ, "U.S. Retail Sales Jumped 0.6% in July," 15 Aug. 2017These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'plus or minus.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Keep scrolling for more
Comments on plus or minus
What made you want to look up plus or minus? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Test Your Vocabulary
Great Scrabble Words—A Quiz
-
- Which of the following Q-without-U words means the number five in cards or dice?
Test your vocabulary with our 10-question quiz!
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridgedWords at Play
Ask the Editors
Word Games
-
Great Scrabble Words—A Quiz
Words to improve your Scrabble game
Take the quiz -
Which Came First? Quiz
Do you know which word is older?
Take the quiz -
How Strong Is Your Vocabulary?
Test your vocabulary with our 10-question quiz!
Take the quiz -
SCRABBLE® Sprint
SCRABBLE® fans, sharpen your skills!
Play the game
Share plus or minus
Resources for plus or minus