in round numbers

Idioms  

1. Also, in round figures. As an approximate estimate. For example, How much will the new highway cost, in round numbers? or In round figures a diamond of this quality is worth five thousand dollars, but it depends on the market at the time of selling. This idiom, which uses round in the sense of “whole” or “rounded off,” is sometimes used very loosely, as Thomas Hardy did in Far from the Madding Crowd (1874): “Well, ma'am, in round numbers, she's run away with the soldiers.” [Mid-1600s] Also see ballpark figure.

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Example Sentences

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in round numbers

So in round numbers, with your $1,000 per month rent and payroll taxes on the receptionist and some miscellaneous expenses, your fixed expenses are about $40,000 per year.

From New York Times ● Jul. 31, 2013

So in round numbers, let’s figure that the 50-percent gross profit after you pay your stylists gets whittled down to about 40 percent after you subtract all of these variable expenses.

From New York Times ● Jul. 31, 2013

All of the transfers were in round numbers.

From The Guardian ● Apr. 2, 2011

For example, Higginbotham's boss, superintendent John Metzler Jr., told investigators that the cemetery had spent "about a million in round numbers" on the effort in 2008.

From Salon ● Jun. 16, 2010

“Then, Herbert, estimate; estimate it in round numbers, and put it down.”

From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens