decimal place

American  

noun

1. the position of a digit to the right of a decimal point; a specific number of digits to the right of the decimal point in a line of numbers.

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decimal place British  

noun

1. the position of a digit after the decimal point, each successive position to the right having a denominator of an increased power of ten

   in 0.025, 5 is in the third decimal place

2. the number of digits to the right of the decimal point Compare significant figures

   3.142 is a number given to three decimal places

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decimal place Scientific  

1. The position of a digit to the right of the decimal point in a number written in decimal notation. In 0.079, for example, 0 is in the first decimal place, 7 is in the second decimal place, and 9 is in the third decimal place.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

decimal place

The BLS put the August jobless rate at 4.3% External link, rounded to a single decimal place.

From Barron's ● Nov. 8, 2025

For the third, you increase the third decimal place of the third number by 1, and so on.

From Scientific American ● Jul. 13, 2023

He said his review of McNaughton's case primarily involved reading a United nurse's recommendation to deny his care and making sure "that there wasn't a decimal place that was out of line."

From Salon ● Feb. 2, 2023

A tiny difference in the 14th decimal place between Alice’s kidney score and Bob’s doesn’t actually mean that Alice would do better with a transplant.

From Slate ● Aug. 31, 2022

The calculation of the actual rate must be carried to the second decimal place in pfennigs, and a rounding up of broken pfennigs is permitted only at the final settlement for the regular subscription period.

From The Development of Rates of Postage An Historical and Analytical Study by Smith, A. D.