give or take

Idioms  

1. Plus or minus a small amount, approximately, more or less. For example, We have ten acres of land, give or take a bit, or It should take a couple of hours, give or take. [Mid-1900s]

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Example Sentences

There are more than 2,000 in the UK, give or take.

From BBC • Apr. 18, 2026

One thing you have done right: Your withholdings are quite accurate, give or take a few hundred dollars.

From MarketWatch • Mar. 27, 2026

At a current $394, it has faced selling pressure every time it reaches $400 give or take since early March.

From Barron's • Mar. 17, 2026

And the wound had time to heal—a diagnosis Mr. Benoit makes 250 million years after the fact, give or take a few thousand millennia.

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 10, 2026

Each of them had gone from clucking animal to oven-ready roaster in ten minutes, give or take.

From "The Omnivore's Dilemma" by Michael Pollan