approximationap‧prox‧i‧ma‧tion /əˌprɒksəˈmeɪʃən $ əˌprɑːk-/ ●○○ AWL noun [countable, uncountable] 
an approximation of the totala rough/crude approximation (=one that is not very exact) Could you give us a rough approximation of the cost?a good/close/reasonable approximation2something that is similar to another thing, but not exactly the sameapproximation of/to It was the nearest approximation to a crisis she’d ever experienced.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Five thousand dollars seems to be a reasonable approximation of the actual cost.
- Although it is sometimes simulated by looking through a peephole, this gives only a crude approximation of the condition.
- As with the others, it was complicated by numerous irregularities, approximations, and ornate embellishments in the park.
- For a long time, this was sufficient justification for Friedmann's assumption - as a rough approximation to the real universe.
- If the first shape is a series of rough-hewed approximations, the second is a shiny patchwork of beautifully stitched leather cut-outs.
- The way in which one would normally try to compute the behaviour of such a world would be to make some approximation.
- There are reasonable approximations of bicarbonate and alkali secretion for each subject on separate occasions.
- We live in a system of approximations.
Longman Language Activatora number or amount that is approximately right
· The measurements are approximate, but I think they'll do.· An expert could give you the approximate value of the painting.· Approximate journey time to London is four hours.
: rough guess/calculation/estimate/indication approximately correct, and therefore not to be used for detailed or important work: · The report should give you a rough indication of the company's stock market performance over the past year.· I'd say that the whole thing would cost you around $1000, but that's just a rough estimate.
a number or amount that is approximately correct - used especially in business: · A ballpark figure for the cost of the construction is $4.5 million.· A firm price hasn't been set yet, but the ballpark figure under discussion is $3 million.give somebody a ballpark figure: · Could you give me a ballpark figure?
formal a number or amount that is approximately correct: a reasonable approximation: · Five thousand dollars seems to be a reasonable approximation of the actual cost.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY It was the nearest approximation to a crisis she’d ever experienced.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
(=one that is not very exact) Could you give us a rough approximation of the cost?
Could you give us a rough approximation of the cost? It was the nearest approximation to a crisis she’d ever experienced.· With individual voices chosen from the sound-card a reasonably close approximation to the a performance can be produced.· A close approximation to these conditions has been attained by Mandelkern, who annealed a linear polyethylene for 40 days.· You only need to type in a close approximation of the word and leave it to the spell-checker to sort out.
· Although it is sometimes simulated by looking through a peephole, this gives only a crude approximation of the condition.· Even at best this is a rather crude approximation.
· This is a good first approximation of the concept of the transnational capitalist class that I want to develop.· This recipe is a good approximation and a whole lot easier to accomplish.· A number of backing off formulae are possible which aim to provide the best approximations to the probability of the transitions.
· There are reasonable approximations of bicarbonate and alkali secretion for each subject on separate occasions.· In the absence of such precision, reasonable approximations may be considered.· Therefore, as a reasonable approximation, you can neglect the extra oxygen that plants consume at night.· Some of the errors introduced will cancel one another out and the answer we get will still be a reasonable approximation.· This is acceptable only if it can be demonstrated that the method gives a reasonable approximation of the actual cost.
· For a long time, this was sufficient justification for Friedmann's assumption - as a rough approximation to the real universe.· But as a very rough approximation, avoiding pain and courting pleasure is indeed the way we act.· Neither could these illustrations just be rough approximations of the finished articles.· However, by making some assumptions, a rough approximation of public expenditure saving can be reached.
VERB· Cowan makes a number of approximations in order to make his theory manageable.· The way in which one would normally try to compute the behaviour of such a world would be to make some approximation.
WORD FAMILYnounapproximationadjectiveapproximateverbapproximateadverbapproximately
1a number, amount etc that is not exact, but is almost correct SYN estimateapproximation of an approximation of the totala rough/crude approximation (=one that is not very exact) Could you give us a rough approximation of the cost?a good/close/reasonable approximation2something that is similar to another thing, but not exactly the sameapproximation of/to It was the nearest approximation to a crisis she’d ever experienced.