estimate
Americanverb (used with object)
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estimates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
estimated,
past participle, past
-
estimating
present participle
verb (used without object)
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estimates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
estimated,
past participle, past
-
estimating
present participle
noun
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estimates
plural
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an approximate judgment or calculation, as of the value, amount, time, size, or weight of something.
- Synonyms:
- appraisal, calculation, valuation
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a judgment or opinion, as of the qualities of a person or thing.
-
a statement of the approximate charge for work to be done, submitted by a person or business firm ready to undertake the work.
verb
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to form an approximate idea of (distance, size, cost, etc); calculate roughly; gauge
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(tr; may take a clause as object) to form an opinion about; judge
to estimate one's chances
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to submit (an approximate price) for (a job) to a prospective client
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(tr) statistics to assign a value (a point estimate ) or range of values (an interval estimate ) to a parameter of a population on the basis of sampling statistics See estimator
noun
-
an approximate calculation
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a statement indicating the likely charge for or cost of certain work
-
a judgment; appraisal; opinion
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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estimatornoun
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preestimatenoun
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reestimatenoun
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self-estimatenoun
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preestimateverb (used with object)
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reestimateverb (used with object)
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estimativeadjective
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unestimatedadjective
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well-estimatedadjective
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estimatinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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estimatesimple
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estimatessimple
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have estimatedperfect
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has estimatedperfect
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am estimatingprogressive
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are estimatingprogressive
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is estimatingprogressive
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have been estimatingperfect progressive
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has been estimatingperfect progressive
Past
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estimatedsimple
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had estimatedperfect
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was estimatingprogressive
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were estimatingprogressive
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had been estimatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of estimate
First recorded in 1525–35; from Latin aestimātus “valued,” past participle of aestimāre “to value, fix the value of”
Explanation
A rough calculation or appraisal is an estimate. When you hit another baseball through the kitchen window, your parents will get an estimate of the repair costs. And you should estimate being grounded for approximately 3 weeks. An estimate is kind of like a very educated guess. Making an estimate takes good evaluation skills, and usually estimates are pretty close to the actual outcome. If the garage bill is way higher than the estimate they gave you, for example, you have a right to be angry. But if you forgot to factor in rush hour traffic when you estimated the drive from Boston to New York, that's your own fault.
Vocabulary lists containing estimate
Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Arithmetic
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Academic Vocabulary: Core Tier 2 Words, List 4
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Roche raised its annual peak sales estimate for divarasib to between 2 billion and 3 billion Swiss francs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
That consensus 2027 revenue estimate has risen 12% since the end of June, according to FactSet.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026
This analysis allowed them to estimate when the Dianjunaceae family first appeared.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 26, 2026
Retired wind turbines have room-size generators that in some cases house nearly a ton of rare earths that can be worth close to $100,000, according to one recycler’s estimate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
Gerry then presented his own personal estimate of the revenue required to compensate the slave owners for purchasing their slaves at current market value and came up with the figure of $10 million.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
He said that institutional investors had been expecting Manhattan Associates’ cloud-services revenue growth to slow, and consensus estimates were in line with that view.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026
Adjusted earnings per share were $1.31, compared with analyst estimates of $1.27.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
"The future projections similarly end up being lower than previous estimates, by about a million square kilometers."
From Science Daily ● Oct. 26, 2026
It estimates that the ads cost more than $137 million.
From Barron's ● Oct. 26, 2026
The 2000 census revealed that one-third of Clarkston’s population was foreign-born, though almost everyone suspected the number was higher because census estimates did not account for large numbers of refugees and immigrants living together.
From "Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference" by Warren St. John
Laveaux is one of an estimated 400 scare actors employed seasonally at Dark Harbor, run by Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group, which also produces L.A.’s Haunted Hayride.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 26, 2026
Among analysts polled by FactSet, the consensus estimate for the company’s 2027 capex total was $249.42 billion, up from an estimated $80.4 billion this year.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 26, 2026
It previously estimated the economy in August expanded 0.2% from the month before, which would represent a fourth month of growth in the last five after essentially no change in July.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2026
Yet the research team has now estimated the ship and its cargo dates to around 2700–2400 BCE.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 26, 2026
Dr. Grossman estimated that the burns covered 22 percent of Sasha’s body.
From "The 57 Bus" by Dashka Slater
Hipora, which works with businesses across East and Southern Africa, says employee theft is a huge problem, estimating that it accounts for more than 60% of losses recorded by small businesses.
From BBC ● Oct. 25, 2026
To understand their activity habits, participants completed questionnaires estimating how many hours each week they spent being physically active.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 23, 2026
Financing the buildout envisioned by CEO Elon Musk will cost much more than that, with one analyst estimating an up to $336 billion bill in 2027.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 19, 2026
All of this is why James is estimating the tally to restore the carousel will top $3 million or $4 million.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 12, 2026
She looks at me sideways, as if estimating how far, how much farther I’ll go in what we both know, surely, is base treachery.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
