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fudge factor

American  

noun

  1. any variable component added to an experiment, plan, or the like that can be manipulated to allow leeway for error.


Example Sentences

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See Examples For:

Even adding a fudge factor to all that, though, there’s a huge gap in the math.

From The Wall Street Journal Aug. 7, 2026

Now, lambda is enjoying a second life, but it remains a fudge factor without any physical explanation, and one possible basis for it doesn’t hold up.

From Science Magazine Jun. 21, 2023

You could add a fudge factor to account for future inflation, which is, unfortunately, unpredictable.

From Seattle Times Jul. 31, 2022

That something was a fudge factor added to the equations Einstein called the cosmological constant.

From New York Times Nov. 24, 2015

See frobnicate and fudge factor; also see shotgun debugging.

From The Jargon File, Version 4.2.2, 20 Aug 2000 by Guy L. Steele

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