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average
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
average
I.adjective
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
an average length
▪ These worms grow to an average length of about 1 metre.
an average speed
▪ Our average speed was 88 mph.
average earnings
▪ Average earnings for teachers are around $70,000.
average/typical/ordinary punter
▪ The technical details mean nothing to the average punter.
grade point average
high/low/average ability
▪ a group of low ability pupils
▪ Many of these students are of above average ability.
▪ Children of high ability demand more absorbing tasks.
high/low/average earner
▪ Private childcare is still too expensive for the average earner.
medium/average build
▪ He was of medium build and wearing a light-coloured jacket.
the average consumer
▪ The average consumer has become more price conscious.
the average cost
▪ What’s the average cost of a wedding in the UK?
the average income
▪ The report compares average incomes across different European countries.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
above
▪ Again, both groups are above average in logical thinking, preferring to make decisions based on facts.
▪ An analyst at Merrill Lynch &038; Co. lowered the managed-care provider to hold from above average on an intermediate-term basis.
▪ The figures for black youngsters excluded indefinitely and for a fixed period were also above average.
▪ Pay above average within the industry and geographic area 2.
▪ He was a slight man, a little above average height, but by no means a. prime physical specimen.
▪ Similarly, most middle managers are average or above average in intelligence.
below
▪ But when the average cost curve is falling the marginal cost curve lies below average cost.
▪ I counted only six white workers in the factory, half of which seemed to be of below average intelligence.
▪ It was not an altogether convincing Braintree display against a below average looking Yeading side.
▪ When the offences happened he was an unenthusiastic and below average soldier, the court heard.
▪ Large economies of scale mean that marginal cost lies below average cost.
▪ Frayed edges, broken by a very below average human finger, nearly fit round corners of chipped cream-painted cream furniture.
▪ But it needed a full-time crammer to get you there and you're still below average.
■ NOUN
age
▪ With an average age of 71, few will be able to find work.
▪ Its circulation is about 500, 000, and the average age of its readers is 30. 5.
▪ There have, for example, been slight increases in average family size and in the average age at marriage.
▪ What is the average age people grow out of it?
▪ For many staff, whose average age is below 30, the slump is a new experience.
▪ The average age of nurses is now over 45.
▪ The average age was about 16 5 and some of the more distinctive dress elements were present.
▪ The average age of the cruise vacationer is 49, according to Cruise Lines International Association.
cost
▪ But when the average cost curve is falling the marginal cost curve lies below average cost.
▪ This possibility depends on a wedge between price and marginal, not average cost.
▪ These should be related to the average cost of the services.
▪ In particular, let the average cost curves for firms in one country lie everywhere below those in the other.
▪ Output is allocated among plants so that all are producing at the lowest point on their average cost curves.
▪ The unit cost function represents marginal and average costs.
▪ Health centres with a low throughput may have higher average costs than a busy hospital outpatient department.
▪ Let us compare that cost with the average cost in the Tennessee Valley of $ 166 per kilowatt of capacity.
earnings
▪ Economic statistics: Labour market statistics: average earnings.
▪ Jardine Fleming Thanakom expects 21 % growth in average earnings per share in 1996, up from just 10 % in 1995.
▪ Britain's pension was also low as a percentage of national average earnings.
▪ When the link between average earnings and the pension ended, so too did their hopes of a reasonable standard of living.
▪ The workers in the study sample had average earnings of about $ 6, 600 per year in 1967.
▪ The formula governing firefighters' pay is linked to the national average earnings for manual workers.
▪ By 1990 motor insurance had kept in line with average earnings and risen to £223.
estimate
▪ Results matched the average estimate from 11 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.
▪ As with most groups, the average estimates for women are two to four times higher than those for men.
▪ Wall Street expected earnings of 71 cents, the average estimate of 12 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.
▪ The results yesterday beat the average estimate of 19 cents, based on a poll of seven analysts by Zacks Investment Research.
▪ Analysts had expected it to earn 36 cents a share, the average estimate of four analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.
▪ The results were in line with the average estimate of 71 cents a share from 13 analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research.
family
▪ The amount needed will probably be rather more than, for example, the average family car.
▪ He needs to spell out why a tax cut is going to help the average family of four.
▪ The change will save the average family fifty pounds a year.
▪ This amounts to $ 3, 000 in additional taxes for the average family of four.
▪ Labour claimed the Budget will leave the average family £8 a week worse off, but Premier John Major disagreed.
▪ At the very least they should cut ticket prices, which have become unaffordable for the average family.
▪ Mr Lamont's Budget will give a tax cut of £100 a year to the average family.
▪ The average family watched less than four hours during the two conventions last time round.
growth
▪ On average, the second tier outperformed the larger firms, with an average growth rate of 6%.
▪ The average growth fund ended the year with a 30. 80 percent advance.
▪ That's some way below the industry's historical average growth rate of 17 per cent.
▪ But as Table 2-1 shows, the adoption of free-market develop-ment models has raised their average growth rates.
▪ An average growth rate of 11 % p.a. in real manufactured exports, reflecting increased competitiveness.
height
▪ It is located in a layer at an average height of 12 kilometres above the Earth's surface.
▪ The suspect was described as a white male of average height and weight between 25 to 32 years old.
▪ He was a burly man of average height, white-haired and distinguished looking.
▪ At five feet eight she was above the average height for a woman.
▪ The average height of a man was six feet, while seven-foot giants were by no means uncommon.
▪ Speaking rapidly into Nick's ear was a man of average height, slightly tanned and with high cheek-bones.
household
▪ Only luxury items beyond the reach of the average household remained on open sale.
▪ Currently, the average household has access to dozens of channels.
▪ The new bills will save an average household £50 a year, but today's decision has shocked county officials.
▪ There has been both an increase in the total number of households and a decrease in the average household size.
▪ The city limits encompassed 91 square miles, and the water bill for the average household was $ 8.
▪ A spending breakdown shows the average household spends £47.70 on food, £47.40 on housing and £42.90 on transport.
▪ Surveys of viewing patterns show that in an average household the television set is in use over seven hours a day.
income
▪ Allowing for this element means that the average income from farming per full-time equivalent may be about £9,000 perannum.
▪ And this is the average income for full-time workers.
▪ Pensions then were equivalent to two-thirds or more of average incomes of working-class adults.
▪ In the mid 1960s, the average income for black families was only 54% of the average for white families.
▪ Consequently, she had to exist on an average income of £26 per week from an evening waitressing job.
▪ The differences which remain are enforced mainly by differences in average income and in style of government.
▪ It shows that a third of average incomes is generated by migrant labour and only a fifth by selling crops.
▪ Available goods are so highly priced as to be out of reach for people on average incomes.
length
▪ The specialisms of geriatrics and orthopaedic surgery have recorded the largest decreases in average length of stay.
▪ To begin with, the average length of time per customer transaction tripled, which meant longer lines and increased waiting times.
▪ The average length of stay of readmitted patients was 12 days compared with 15 for those not readmitted.
▪ The average length of a bull market is 28 months, according to Ibbotson.
▪ So short of an immediate recovery, this recession will be longer than the 11-month average length of recessions since the war.
▪ Regardless of who or what triggered these placements, the average length of stay was reported as 15. 4 months.
▪ The average length of mediation in the 257 cases was 1.3 days, while the average value increased.
▪ The average length of service of my colleagues in London fell rapidly from six years to less than two years.
level
▪ The average level recorded in Sivitsa is 110.
▪ Trading was close to twice average levels at 732 million shares.
▪ The amplitude of the curve is its maximum height above its average level.
▪ Can we expect the average level of earnings of physicians to rise over the next decade?
▪ Even fewer succeed and the average level of compensation in those cases is just a few hundred pounds.
▪ The average level for most developing countries is about 15 %.
▪ Interestingly, only one of the nine families with an affected child had an above average level of emotional trauma.
▪ Second and more fundamental: is there nowadays any normal average level of fertility to which post-industrial societies are tending?
life
▪ Between 1814 and 1820 the average life of a minister was six months.
▪ The average life expectancy of a child with Down syndrome was 9 years in 1910.
▪ An alternative to making yield calculations based on average life is to make them based on equivalent life.
▪ With an average life expectancy, that same beneficiary will collect a monthly check for five years beyond that.
▪ Every soldier knew that average life expectancy at the front was seventeen days.
▪ Taking a funeral policy can cost less than paying for a funeral plan by instalments but it depends on average life expectancy.
▪ The Group's current average life of gross debt is some 5.5 years.
▪ One of the continuing financial objectives is to lengthen this average life of debt through selective refinancing.
man
▪ They have no more idea of the public's response to something musical than the average man in the street.
▪ This in fact one of the most frequent descriptions of the average man in modern political societies.
▪ It must have represented at least three weeks wages for the average man in the village.
▪ Not only will there he material improvement for the average man, but an end to poverty and privation for all.
▪ The average man who retires at 60 will live another 18 years, till 78.
▪ In this time of change, the average man was simply showing the commonplace reaction to the insecurity of the competitive system.
▪ Indeed, one of the strengths of fundamentalism is that its apologetics are within the reach of the average man and woman.
▪ This is the average man on the average day.
number
▪ The latter term is usually applied to the average number of word choices permitted by the system's grammar.
▪ In other words, the random loss of certain lines of descent will mean that the average number of defects gradually increases.
▪ The average number of quarrels per hour was three to four, although this was probably an underestimation.
▪ The average number of children per family was two and their average age was three.
▪ The average number of choices at each point was only 10.
▪ The limit is 70 percent of the average number issued between 1988, when Sedona incorporated, and 1995.
▪ Rome had probably more than the average number of beggars.
▪ The average number of items stocked in convenience stores is about 3, 000.
person
▪ A person may be unable to perform a major life activity which an average person could perform.
▪ This, indeed, is something which the average person will at first flatly deny.
▪ The average person, irrespective of weight, has too much refined sugar in their food.
▪ On Capitol Hill, parking costs the average person $ 135 to $ 200 a month.
▪ This is where we should consider what shape and size this average person might be.
▪ Most epileptics are quite emotionally stable and have no more difficulty adapting to life situations than the average person.
▪ Going up one flight of stairs to visit the lavatory is not worth recording as exercise for the average person!
▪ The average person in a developing nation consumes only 1, 031 pounds of food.
price
▪ The average price of these was a little over £26.
▪ The sharp rise last spring led to the average price of diesel fuel rising by 14 % between 1999 and 2000.
▪ These have been used to calculate continuous price series for 50 individual items based on 10 year average prices.
▪ So the total number of transactions will be ten, and the average price of each transaction is £16 / 10 £1.60.
rate
▪ The results of overseas subsidiaries are translated into sterling at average rates for the year.
▪ The average rate of agreement among these three reviewers was 70 percent.
▪ The average rate is total tax paid, divided by total income. 3.
▪ Annualized average rate of return after expenses for the past 30 days; not a forecast of future returns.
▪ That is more than double the average rate of diagnosis in the 1990s.
▪ Since 1981, the electronics industry had increased output by an average rate of about 14 percent a year in real terms.
▪ In principle, this made profitable the speculative holding of stocks of goods whose price rose only at the average rate.
▪ This period has seen a sharp fall in the average rate of growth as compared to the earlier post-war experience.
size
▪ While the average size of farms is four hectares, they are almost universally small with only 1% larger than 2Oha.
▪ It is well to know the limits in advance but it is usually small relative to the average size of grants.
▪ The average size of holding is between 3 and 6 ha, and below 3000 m irrigation is practised.
▪ The body surface area will not be used in the calculation since the clearance is being done on an average size adult.
▪ Anglers from Foyle, Ballymena and Moville experienced almost constant action, although the average size of fish taken was small.
▪ The madame was perhaps in her forties, of average size, which was disappointing.
▪ The average size of these plots was less than 1 hectare in the inner city, but up to 10 hectares at the edges.
▪ The drawings show the average sizes of families.
speed
▪ What is the average speed for the entire journey?
▪ As in many western states, drivers in Nevada have increased their average speeds modestly since the limits were raised.
▪ At an average speed of 25 k.p.h. roughly how long does each crossing take?
▪ From this they could determine the average speeds the waves traveled at different depths.
▪ The endorsement will state the gross average speed per minute and the percentage of accuracy achieved.
▪ So the average speed is five meters per second, and it will have fallen five meters.
▪ Driving standards on the whole improved during the eighties and certainly average speeds increased, in some cases dramatically.
▪ London traffic now moves at an average speed of eleven miles per hour.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
the law of averages
▪ The law of averages says we're due for a win.
▪ Basically, if you believe the law of averages, 1996 should be a year for mutual funds to cool their heels.
▪ By the law of averages, one such application must finally succeed.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ an average price of $9,000
▪ Foreign affairs do not usually interest the average voter.
▪ In an average week I watch about 20 hours of TV.
▪ In an average week, I drive about 250 miles.
▪ The average bagel has 190 calories.
▪ The average family spends about £50 a week on food.
▪ The fishing is average around there - nothing special.
▪ The laws were simplified so that the average person could understand.
▪ There is concern that twenty years from now, the average American won't be able to afford to send his or her children to college.
▪ What's the average rainfall in this area?
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ Anglers from Foyle, Ballymena and Moville experienced almost constant action, although the average size of fish taken was small.
▪ In southern California the average number of passengers per journey is 1.13.
▪ Men are not equipped with gorgeous ornaments or stereotyped courtship rituals, however it may look in the average discotheque.
▪ Packers reply that their average earnings are less than 1 percent of their sales.
▪ The average price for a Gulls game is $ 9.
▪ The government also considered the drop in drilling costs -- and rising output from the average gas discovery.
II.noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
daily
▪ Even such a short break would reduce my daily average to 18.3 miles.
▪ Trading was an estimated 544 million shares, up from the three-month daily average of 430 million shares.
▪ An estimated 459 million shares changed hands, up from a six-month daily average of 419 million issues.
▪ For the week, the daily average was 11. 21 billion baht.
▪ About 26, 740 shares changed hands, compared to a daily average of 19, 288 during the past six months.
high
▪ They represent the highest points average in the international game - a fraction above the All Black whom he deposed from no.1.
▪ Despite this tragedy, she graduated with the second highest grade point average in her high school.
▪ Early returns were showing an unusually high catch average of 5.75 fish per rod.
▪ Health bosses say his his night payments are five times higher than the average.
▪ It declines progressively from the high average of about 15 years in the middle of the century to about 12.5 today.
industrial
▪ The Dow Jones industrial average fell 22.69 points to 3,492.00.
▪ After opening with moderate weakness, the industrial average led a resurgent move by economically sensitive stocks.
▪ When they took office in January 1993 the Dow Jones industrial average stood at 3,242.
▪ In late morning trading on Wall Street, the Dow Jones industrial average fell sharply, down 115.09 at 10,380.19.
▪ By the close profit-takers had the upper hand and the Dow Jones Industrial average was down 6.08 points at 2,785.33.
▪ Instead, the Dow Jones industrial average climbed to still another record high.
▪ The blue-chip Dow Jones industrial average is already up 4. 9 percent this year, after soaring 26 percent in 1996.
▪ Share prices of the Dow Jones industrial average fell Friday by 55 points after an early plunge of 145 points.
national
▪ Management base pay in Greater London was 18.2 p.c. above the national average against 18.7 p.c. in December.
▪ But the test was criticized because it was geared toward national averages, instead of what was taught in California schools.
▪ Car ownership rates are higher in rural areas than the national average.
▪ Only five were solved, for a 41. 7 percent clearance rate, less than two-thirds the national average.
▪ It's more than ten percent down on the national average.
▪ Most certainly: they do better than national averages on the math tests given at the high school.
▪ By 1981, unemployment for those living in the cities was 50 percent higher than the national average.
▪ The national average is $ 1. 19.
overall
▪ There is considerable variation between sports around the overall averages reported above.
▪ This compares with an overall average of about 8 percent for the London Road End as a whole.
▪ The overall average climbed from £750 in 1975 to £8500 in 1990, but dropped more than half last year.
▪ Many writers consider that the closure by 1981 of older large plants itself artificially improved the overall average of output per worker.
▪ The sugar contents have dropped badly with the recent loads bringing our overall average down from 16.2 % to 15.7 %.
■ VERB
calculate
▪ Amplitude and duration of contractions at each recording site were calculated as the average of 10 swallows.
▪ The price was calculated from an average of the market price in the last six months, as per stock market regulations.
compare
▪ Women fare little better, working an average 40.1 hours here, compared to the Euro average of 38.9 hours.
▪ That compares with an average of 122 million shares traded each full day since July.
▪ However, with a higher age structure, compared with the national average, demand continues to outstrip supply.
▪ It is trading at about 11 times earnings per share for 1996, compared to a market average of about 18 times.
▪ These figures compared with a sector average of -90.
▪ About 26, 740 shares changed hands, compared to a daily average of 19, 288 during the past six months.
▪ This compares with the average of 16% in the U.K. as a whole.
▪ Just 74 claims were issued last week, compared to the weekly average of 550.
cost
▪ Cremation costs an average of £ 1,215-a 12 % rise.
▪ The prepared food costs an average of $ 70 a week.
earn
▪ Obviously, not every male manual worker earned the average of 163.60, nor every male non-manual worker £225 in April 1985.
▪ Journalists, for example, start out earning an average of $ 16, 000 a year.
▪ Cote says he earns an average of $ 1, 000 a week, working on straight commission.
fall
▪ In 1986 alone, primary commodity prices fell sharply by an average of nine percent.
▪ In the forty-one with faster population growth, incomes per person fell by an average of 1. 25 percent per year.
▪ But the earnings for the same exports have actually been falling - by an average of 5% per year since 19816.
▪ Therefore the weight of each of the other 99 shares fell from an average of 1.005% to 0.909%.
grow
▪ In the years between 1982 and 1988 the economy grew at an average of nearly 3 percent per year.
▪ Since 1991 the semiconductor industry has grown by an average of nearly 27 percent a year.
increase
▪ Council house rents in the district are to be increased by an average of £3.50 from April.
▪ Overall, however, requests for shelter increased by an average of five percent.
▪ Between 1979 and 1986 the number of private residential homes in Great Britain increased by an average of 18.1 percent a year.
▪ Firms connected with Brown and Root did even better, increasing in value an average of 1. 64 percent.
▪ It was this nagging feeling that was driving me to Kano and had increased my daily average to 19.6 miles.
▪ During the same period the number of places in private residential homes increased by an average of over 17 percent a year.
▪ Non-oil imports increased by an average of 4.5 percent perannum from 1979, while non-oil exports increased by 1 percent perannum.
▪ Comparisons suggest that for comparable hotels rack rates can be increased by an average of £5 per night. 3.
pay
▪ This meant first-time buyers would have to pay an average of £32,700 for their home in 1991.
▪ Their families paid an average of $ 124 per month.
▪ Other guaranteed income bonds are paying an average of around 5 percent on £5,000 left tied up for a year.
produce
▪ The marriages of the late 1950s and early 1960s have produced an average of up to 2.4 babies.
▪ It will produce an average of 584, 000 ounces of gold a year for the first 15 years.
▪ Trains and buses produce an average of 50 units per passenger mile.
receive
▪ He said if Darlington received the regional average increase the town's health services would be £1.3m better off.
▪ Between 1968 and 1972 Chicago received an average of $ 43. 2 million annually under all these programs.
▪ I am receiving, on average, four envelopes full of stamps per day.
▪ Zedillo receives an average of 300 such missives every day while on tour, his aides said.
rise
▪ Prices of Vauxhall's new cars and light vehicles will rise by an average of 3.25 percent from November 29.
▪ One test showed that when white men from the South were insulted, their testosterone levels rose an average of 12 percent.
▪ They expect that overdrafts would rise an average of about £15,500 upwards.
▪ Temperatures rose by an average of 0.6C during the past century, with an increase in floods and droughts.
▪ In August 1920, the cost of a house which stood at £250 in 1914, had risen to £930 on average.
▪ Instead fares will rise by an average of six percent.
▪ Yet their fuel bills will rise by an average of £2 a week and more in the colder areas.
▪ But in the following two years this proportion rose to an average of more than 10 percent.
spend
▪ The report shows a typical family of a man, a woman and two children spends an average of £372 a week.
▪ According to the Port, each cruise passenger last year spent an average of $ 124 in San Francisco.
▪ Yearlings spend an average of five months in a feedlot before being shipped to the packing house.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ The average of 2, 4, and 9 is 5.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ At an average of about $ 30 per seat, that would translate to $ 60 million in revenue.
▪ By 1983 exports had doubled even compared with their average during the 1960s.
▪ Contractor recordable and lost time accident rates were also a fraction of the industry average.
▪ Despite this tragedy, she graduated with the second highest grade point average in her high school.
▪ In the years between 1982 and 1988 the economy grew at an average of nearly 3 percent per year.
▪ It takes an average of nine months to get a green card application processed, officials said.
▪ Share prices of the Dow Jones industrial average fell Friday by 55 points after an early plunge of 145 points.
▪ Six weeks in the summer and two other holidays of three weeks are probably the average.
III.verb
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADVERB
about
▪ The number of classes each week varies from course to course, but is likely to average about four per course.
▪ All seven have full-time jobs but all have been averaging about 50 miles a week in training recently.
▪ Nationally, heating oil is about a dime higher than a year ago, averaging about $ 1. 06 a gallon.
▪ These influxes were all associated with severe weather and numbers otherwise ranged between one and 24 annually, averaging about nine.
▪ Tube life is about 2, 000 hours, or almost four years if you average about 10 hours weekly.
▪ Wages at the Amazon Philharmonic average about $ 1,600 a month.
▪ Genes differ in length, averaging about 10 3 base pairs.
around
▪ In general, spreads tend to average around 6 to 7 percent.
▪ Usually this is a fixed sum which, at the time of writing seems to average around £90.
▪ Since then its growth has averaged around 7 percent a year.
▪ Last year it was thought to average around £33,500.
▪ Flocks were generally small, averaging around 30 breeding sheep per farm.
▪ Total personal income leapt by six percent during 1992 while inflation averaged around four percent.
just
▪ It fielded four candidates who averaged just under 10 percent where they stood.
▪ Twenty-one were settled with a payment to the patient; these payments averaged just over $ 40, 000.
▪ He was clearly keen to up the pace after the hosts averaged just two-and-a-half runs an over yesterday.
▪ Lindbergh had figured that his one Wright Whirlwind engine would burn 16 gallons per hour and had actually averaged just under 11.
▪ From 1955 to 1969 inflation averaged just under 2.8 percent perannum.
▪ He averaged just 2. 0 points and 3. 2 rebounds last season as a freshman.
▪ Points had been a problem, too, with the Lakers averaging just 90 in their three consecutive losses.
▪ He caught 89 passes last year, but he averaged just 7. 7 yards a catch.
more
▪ They averaged more than six yards a play, and they picked up nine first downs.
nearly
▪ This averages nearly £12,000 per equivalent full-time farm.
▪ Fertility rates are high, averaging nearly 6. 5 children, while contraceptive prevalence averages less than 8 percent.
▪ He averaged nearly 30 points in four games against the Hornets last season, and once scored 57 against Charlotte.
▪ He averages nearly seven points and more than four rebounds in about 16 minutes per game.
▪ To be listed first among these may according to one estimate confer in the Republic an advantage averaging nearly a thousand first-preference votes.
▪ Area construction permits averaged nearly 11, 800 annually between 1990 and 1994.
▪ Return on equity has averaged nearly 19% a year.
▪ In 1995, salaries of general managers averaged nearly $ 57, 000, according to the Roth Young survey.
only
▪ Consumer goods manufacturers averaged only 12.5 percent.
▪ Most students average only 12 to 20 hours out at the work site because of scheduling conflicts.
▪ The three-month trend shows sterling lending to the private sector averaging only about £1 billion a month.
▪ He had averaged only eight points in his past six games.
▪ The key is whether Richardson can rediscover his form after averaging only 18 in the World Cup.
▪ This subject said she had averaged only an hour of sleep since childhood.
▪ During the period of rebuilding the economy after World War Two, the growth rate averaged only 1.4 percent.
▪ Existing homes priced between $ 80,000 and $ 89,999 sold the quickest last month, averaging only 37 days on the market.
■ NOUN
cost
▪ The cost of a childminder averages £90 a week, with a nursery place around £110.
▪ With dollar cost averaging, the price swings are washed out.
▪ The medical costs average $ 2, 000 per case and sometimes run as high as $ 10, 000.
▪ However, he estimated that the cost will average $ 30 to $ 100 per detected mine.
growth
▪ The sector's reputation for efficiency and technical excellence is deservedly high - growth averaged 14 percent a year across the 1980s.
▪ Labor market growth averaged 140, 000 during the first 11 months of last year.
▪ Long term dividend growth might average 10 p.c.
▪ Since then its growth has averaged around 7 percent a year.
▪ During the period of rebuilding the economy after World War Two, the growth rate averaged only 1.4 percent.
▪ From 1980 to 1986 the annual rate of growth averaged c. 17 percent.
inflation
▪ If inflation averages 2 percent, prices double every thirty-six years.
▪ In 1974-79, the inflation rate averaged over 15 percent.
▪ Total personal income leapt by six percent during 1992 while inflation averaged around four percent.
▪ From 1955 to 1969 inflation averaged just under 2.8 percent perannum.
price
▪ They say that the pack reached only the more affluent areas where house prices averaged £150,000.
▪ The weekly sales were for the period ending Jan. 11, where prices averaged $ 3. 6270 a bushel.
▪ House prices may average three times incomes.
▪ The single-product equivalent, which has a trivial solution - set price equal to average cost - is illustrated in figure 2.4.
rate
▪ During the period of rebuilding the economy after World War Two, the growth rate averaged only 1.4 percent.
▪ Fertility rates are high, averaging nearly 6. 5 children, while contraceptive prevalence averages less than 8 percent.
▪ From 1980 to 1986 the annual rate of growth averaged c. 17 percent.
▪ Her rate now averages 140 over 80.
▪ In 1974-79, the inflation rate averaged over 15 percent.
▪ The jobless rate, which averaged 9. 5 percent in 1995, is expected to be little changed in 1996.
▪ Fixed mortgage rates averaged 7. 03 percent, down from 9. 15 percent a year ago.
▪ Adjustable rates averaged 5. 43 percent, down from 6. 82 in January 1995.
unemployment
▪ In 1921 unemployment averaged nearly 14%, and it obstinately refused to clear up throughout the decade.
▪ In the last half of the 1960s, unemployment averaged only 3. 4 percent.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ Primary-care doctors said they averaged over 25 patients a day.
▪ The fish averages about two inches in length.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ He averaged more than a sack per game the past three seasons.
▪ However, he estimated that the cost will average $ 30 to $ 100 per detected mine.
▪ It so happens that this rate is exactly the output of the building industry, averaged over the previous three years.
▪ Last year, Harris averaged 16 points in 31 starts after Jackson was lost for the season.
▪ Postoperative values were similarly first averaged across the 40-min observation period and then among patients.
▪ Production and development Production in 1992 averaged 51,000 boepd.
▪ Since then its growth has averaged around 7 percent a year.
▪ Van Horn finished his career as the top scorer in Utah history, averaging 20. 8 points.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Average

Average \Av"er*age\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Averaged (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Averaging.]

  1. To find the mean of, when sums or quantities are unequal; to reduce to a mean.

  2. To divide among a number, according to a given proportion; as, to average a loss.

  3. To do, accomplish, get, etc., on an average.

Average

Average \Av"er*age\, n. [OF. average, LL. averagium, prob. fr. OF. aver, F. avoir, property, horses, cattle, etc.; prop. infin., to have, from L. habere to have. Cf. F. av['e]rage small cattle, and avarie (perh. of different origin) damage to ship or cargo, port dues. The first meaning was perhaps the service of carting a feudal lord's wheat, then charge for carriage, the contribution towards loss of things carried, in proportion to the amount of each person's property. Cf. Aver, n., Avercorn, Averpenny.]

  1. (OLd Eng. Law) That service which a tenant owed his lord, to be done by the work beasts of the tenant, as the carriage of wheat, turf, etc.

  2. [Cf. F. avarie damage to ship or cargo.] (Com.)

    1. A tariff or duty on goods, etc. [Obs.]

    2. Any charge in addition to the regular charge for freight of goods shipped.

    3. A contribution to a loss or charge which has been imposed upon one of several for the general benefit; damage done by sea perils.

    4. The equitable and proportionate distribution of loss or expense among all interested.

      General average, a contribution made, by all parties concerned in a sea adventure, toward a loss occasioned by the voluntary sacrifice of the property of some of the parties in interest for the benefit of all. It is called general average, because it falls upon the gross amount of ship, cargo, and freight at risk and saved by the sacrifice.
      --Kent.

      Particular average signifies the damage or partial loss happening to the ship, or cargo, or freight, in consequence of some fortuitous or unavoidable accident; and it is borne by the individual owners of the articles damaged, or by their insurers.

      Petty averages are sundry small charges, which occur regularly, and are necessarily defrayed by the master in the usual course of a voyage; such as port charges, common pilotage, and the like, which formerly were, and in some cases still are, borne partly by the ship and partly by the cargo. In the clause commonly found in bills of lading, ``primage and average accustomed,'' average means a kind of composition established by usage for such charges, which were formerly assessed by way of average.
      --Arnould.
      --Abbott.
      --Phillips.

  3. A mean proportion, medial sum or quantity, made out of unequal sums or quantities; an arithmetical mean. Thus, if A loses 5 dollars, B 9, and C 16, the sum is 30, and the average 10.

  4. Any medial estimate or general statement derived from a comparison of diverse specific cases; a medium or usual size, quantity, quality, rate, etc. ``The average of sensations.''
    --Paley.

  5. pl. In the English corn trade, the medial price of the several kinds of grain in the principal corn markets.

    On an average, taking the mean of unequal numbers or quantities.

Average

Average \Av"er*age\, a.

  1. Pertaining to an average or mean; medial; containing a mean proportion; of a mean size, quality, ability, etc.; ordinary; usual; as, an average rate of profit; an average amount of rain; the average Englishman; beings of the average stamp.

  2. According to the laws of averages; as, the loss must be made good by average contribution.

Average

Average \Av"er*age\, v. i. To form, or exist in, a mean or medial sum or quantity; to amount to, or to be, on an average; as, the losses of the owners will average twenty five dollars each; these spars average ten feet in length.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
average

late 15c., "financial loss incurred through damage to goods in transit," from French avarie "damage to ship," and Italian avaria; a word from 12c. Mediterranean maritime trade (compare Spanish averia; other Germanic forms, Dutch avarij, German haferei, etc., also are from Romanic languages), which is of uncertain origin. Sometimes traced to Arabic 'arwariya "damaged merchandise." Meaning shifted to "equal sharing of such loss by the interested parties." Transferred sense of "statement of a medial estimate" is first recorded 1735. The mathematical extension is from 1755.

average

1770; see average (n.).

average

1769, from average (n.). Related: Averaged; averaging.

Wiktionary
average
  1. 1 (context not comparable English) Constituting or relating to the average. 2 Neither very good nor very bad; rated somewhere in the middle of all others in the same category. 3 Typical. 4 (context informal English) Not outstanding, not good, banal; bad or poor. n. 1 (context legal marine English) Financial loss due to damage to transported goods; compensation for damage or loss. (From 15th C.) 2 Customs duty or similar charge payable on transported goods. 3 Proportional or equitable distribution of financial expense. 4 (context mathematics English) The arithmetic mean. v

  2. 1 (context transitive informal English) To compute the arithmetic mean of. 2 Over a period of time or across members of a population, to have or generate a mean value of. 3 To divide among a number, according to a given proportion. 4 To be, generally or on average.

WordNet
average

n. a statistic describing the location of a distribution; "it set the norm for American homes" [syn: norm]

average
  1. v. amount to or come to an average, without loss or gain; "The number of hours I work per work averages out to 40" [syn: average out]

  2. achieve or reach on average; "He averaged a C"

  3. compute the average of [syn: average out]

average
  1. adj. approximating the statistical norm or average or expected value; "the average income in New England is below that of the nation"; "of average height for his age"; "the mean annual rainfall" [syn: mean(a)]

  2. lacking special distinction, rank, or status; commonly encountered; "average people"; "the ordinary (or common) man in the street" [syn: ordinary]

  3. of no exceptional quality or ability; "a novel of average merit"; "only a fair performance of the sonata"; "in fair health"; "the caliber of the students has gone from mediocre to above average"; "the performance was middling at best" [syn: fair, mediocre, middling]

  4. around the middle of a scale of evaluation of physical measures; "an orange of average size"; "intermediate capacity"; "a plane with intermediate range"; "medium bombers" [syn: intermediate, medium]

  5. relating to or constituting the most frequent value in a distribution; "the modal age at which American novelists reach their peak is 30" [syn: modal(a)]

  6. relating to or constituting the middle value of an ordered set of values (or the average of the middle two in an even-numbered set); "the median value of 17, 20, and 36 is 20"; "the median income for the year was $15,000" [syn: median(a)]

Wikipedia
Average

In colloquial language, an average is the sum of a list of numbers divided by the number of numbers in the list. In mathematics and statistics, this would be called the arithmetic mean. In statistics, mean, median, and mode are all known as measures of central tendency.

Usage examples of "average".

If we only consider the mean or average effect in orbits nearly circular, this force may be considered as an ablatitious force at all distances below the mean, counterbalanced by an opposite effect at all distances above the mean.

But if these muons are not sitting at rest in the laboratory and instead are traveling through a piece of equipment known as a particle accelerator that boosts them to just shy of light-speed, their average life expectancy as measured by scientists in the laboratory increases dramatically.

But however he does it, the average Aenean must serve something which is greater than himself.

There came to their great aeronautic parks at Chinsi-fu and Tsingyen by the mono-rails that now laced the whole surface of China a limitless supply of skilled and able workmen, workmen far above the average European in industrial efficiency.

I very much doubt whether the average juryman has your intimate knowledge of the argot of the underworld.

But would even an Auditorship be enough to induce the average Barrayaran woman to overlook the rest of the package?

Many of these babblers are quite huge, much bigger than your average usher.

How had Baff, your average minnow, mortally offended a marina mogul to earn that doom?

Gore was a newcomer in the League ranks, he hailing from New Bedford, but he soon made for himself a name, being a first-class fielder and a batsman that was away above the average, as is shown by his record made in after years.

He was better than an average batsman and one of the few that knew how to wait for a ball and get the one that he wanted before striking.

As a fielder he was very fair, and as, a batsman above the average, so far as strength went, though not always to be depended upon as certain to land upon the ball.

It has availed itself of these great examples to such good purpose that the average of reputable verse written to-day is more instinct with feeling, more vitalised with thought, more satisfying in expression, than much which is studied and belauded and quoted because it was written a century or two ago.

According to bn Bem, this was an excellent average, considering their proximity to the teeming swamps.

This dynamic state is a vacation paradise, boasting a population, an average annual rainfall, and historical significance.

I had a pleasant enough voice, but I knew only a little more of bardic magic than the average bogger, and that only from half-remembered conversations with my father when I was very young.