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APPROXIMATE
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Located close together
Example:
approximate leaves grow together but are not united
Synonyms:
Classified under:
Similar:
close (at or within a short distance in space or time or having elements near each other)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Very close in resemblance
Example:
a near likeness
Synonyms:
approximate; near
Classified under:
Similar:
close (close in relevance or relationship)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Not quite exact or correct
Example:
a ballpark estimate
Synonyms:
approximate; approximative; rough
Classified under:
Adjectives
Similar:
inexact (not exact)
II. (verb)
Verb forms
Present simple: I / you / we / they approximate ... he / she / it approximates
Past simple: approximated
Past participle: approximated
-ing form: approximating
Sense 1
Meaning:
Judge tentatively or form an estimate of (quantities or time)
Example:
I estimate this chicken to weigh three pounds
Synonyms:
approximate; estimate; gauge; guess; judge
Classified under:
Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting
Hypernyms (to "approximate" is one way to...):
calculate; cipher; compute; cypher; figure; reckon; work out (make a mathematical calculation or computation)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "approximate"):
quantise; quantize (approximate (a signal varying continuously in amplitude) by one whose amplitude is restricted to a prescribed set of discrete values)
misgauge (gauge something incorrectly or improperly)
give (estimate the duration or outcome of something)
lowball; underestimate (make a deliberately low estimate)
assess (estimate the value of (property) for taxation)
make (calculate as being)
count; reckon (take account of)
truncate (approximate by ignoring all terms beyond a chosen one)
guesstimate (estimate based on a calculation)
Sentence frames:
Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s PP
Somebody ----s that CLAUSE
Derivation:
approximative (not quite exact or correct)
Sense 2
Meaning:
Be close or similar
Example:
Her results approximate my own
Synonyms:
approximate; come close
Classified under:
Verbs of being, having, spatial relations
Hypernyms (to "approximate" is one way to...):
resemble (appear like; be similar or bear a likeness to)
Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "approximate"):
approach; border on (come near or verge on, resemble, come nearer in quality, or character)
Sentence frame:
Something ----s something
Derivation:
approximative (not quite exact or correct)
Context examples:
The new image more closely approximates what the human eye would see.
(NASA Issues 'Remastered' View of Jupiter's Moon Europa, NASA)
Oncostatin M, a glycoprotein with an approximate molecular weight of 28,000, was originally isolated from a conditioned medium of human leukemia cells that had been induced to differentiate into macrophage-like cells by treatment with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate.
(Oncostatin M, NCI Thesaurus)
A new locator feature has since been added to not only provide search and rescue responders with confirmation of a heartbeat, but also the approximate location of trapped individuals within about five feet, depending on the type of rubble.
(DHS and NASA Technology Helps Save Four in Nepal Earthquake Disaster, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)
The object approached our solar system from almost directly above the ecliptic, the approximate plane in space where the planets and most asteroids orbit the Sun, so it did not have any close encounters with the eight major planets during its plunge toward the Sun.
(Small Asteroid or Comet 'Visits' from Beyond the Solar System, NASA)
A thermometric scale named after the German physicist Gabriel Fahrenheit, on which under standard atmospheric pressure the boiling point of water is at 212 degrees above the zero of the scale, the freezing point is at 32 degrees above zero, and the zero point approximates the temperature produced by mixing equal quantities by weight of snow and common salt.
(Fahrenheit Scale, NCI Thesaurus)
