as in math
the act or process of performing mathematical operations to find a value
I haven't actually done the arithmetic yet, but I suspect we're losing money on the deal
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Recent Examples of arithmetic
After a week of monitoring their usual intake with smart bottles and fluid diaries, the volunteers returned to the lab to take part in the Trier Social Stress Test, which mimics a nerve-wracking job interview where participants give a speech and perform mental arithmetic while being observed.
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New Atlas, 21 Aug. 2025
The headlines about reducing Social Security taxes offer short-term relief, but Americans should also consider the long-term arithmetic.
—Ashley Lutz, Fortune, 15 Aug. 2025
The modular form’s numbers only had to be equivalent in the realm of what’s known as clock arithmetic.
—Joseph Howlett, Wired News, 27 July 2025
Pruning involves eliminating redundant parameters that don’t significantly impact accuracy, and quantization converts the models to use lower-precision arithmetic to save on computation and memory usage.
—Dwith Chenna, IEEE Spectrum, 20 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for arithmetic
New Atlas, 21 Aug. 2025
The headlines about reducing Social Security taxes offer short-term relief, but Americans should also consider the long-term arithmetic.
—Ashley Lutz, Fortune, 15 Aug. 2025
The modular form’s numbers only had to be equivalent in the realm of what’s known as clock arithmetic.
—Joseph Howlett, Wired News, 27 July 2025
Pruning involves eliminating redundant parameters that don’t significantly impact accuracy, and quantization converts the models to use lower-precision arithmetic to save on computation and memory usage.
—Dwith Chenna, IEEE Spectrum, 20 July 2025
See All Example Sentences for arithmetic
Recent Examples of Synonyms for arithmetic
Noun
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Florida’s chief financial officer brought his tax-cut campaign to Miami on Thursday, using some basic math to insist the city spends too much on salaries and services.—
Douglas Hanks,
Miami Herald,
24 Oct. 2025
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Other farm animals were inside a school, eating the math books.—
Chris Kenning,
USA Today,
24 Oct. 2025
Noun
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According to one estimate, this data-center campus, far from complete, already demands more than 500 megawatts of electricity to power these calculations—as much as hundreds of thousands of American homes.—
Matteo Wong,
The Atlantic,
30 Oct. 2025
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These look at what millions of users watch or listen to, then run calculations across countless machines to suggest new music or shows.—
Lyssanoel Frater,
USA Today,
29 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Arithmetic.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/arithmetic. Accessed 4 Nov. 2025.
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