known quantity

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noun

Mathematics. a quantity whose value is given: in algebra, frequently represented by a letter from the first part of the alphabet, as a, b, or c.

any factor, circumstance, etc., that is already accepted or familiar: Her honesty is a known quantity.

QUIZ

ARE YOU A TRUE BLUE CHAMPION OF THESE "BLUE" SYNONYMS?

We could talk until we're blue in the face about this quiz on words for the color "blue," but we think you should take the quiz and find out if you're a whiz at these colorful terms.

Question 1 of 8

Which of the following words describes “sky blue”?

navy

beryl

azure

TAKE THE QUIZ TO FIND OUT

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Origin of known quantity

First recorded in 1975–80

Words nearby known quantity

Knowles, know like a book, known, know-nothing, Know-Nothings, known quantity, know one's own mind, know one's place, know one's stuff, know one's way around, know only too well

How to use known quantity in a sentence

They are receiving a known quantity for a point guard who hasn’t played an NBA game in nearly two years.
Russell Westbrook is a known quantity. The question is how he’ll fit with the Wizards.|Ava Wallace|December 3, 2020|Washington Post
They’ll be more likely to order from you, a known quantity, rather than the thousands of other retailers jockeying for their attention.
Four digital marketing strategies to prepare for a wild holiday season|Owen Loft|November 13, 2020|Search Engine Watch
What’s more, Supreme has already done tie-ups with Vans—another brand with streetwear and skateboard cred—the North Face, and Timberland, so it is a known quantity to VF.
Why Vans and North Face owner VF Corp. is paying $2.1 billion for Supreme|Phil Wahba|November 9, 2020|Fortune
Profiling known quantities on the SERP for the topics your sites deal with could be a great way to head off any potential negative impact from a pending core update.
Did Google just hint at an authority profile?|Mordy Oberstein|September 21, 2020|Search Engine Land

Qualitatively evaluate what the known quantities are doing on their various types of pages.
Did Google just hint at an authority profile?|Mordy Oberstein|September 21, 2020|Search Engine Land
Asia Bibi, as she is known, was arrested and sentenced to death.
In Defense of Blasphemy|Michael Tomasky|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
The cartoonist, better known as Charb, was shot dead Wednesday.
France Kills Charlie Hebdo Murderers|Nico Hines|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
He hits bottom at Rocamadour, a sanctuary in the Dordogne known as a citadel of faith devoted to Mary.
Houellebecq’s Incendiary Novel Imagines France With a Muslim President|Pierre Assouline|January 9, 2015|DAILY BEAST
What is known is that Peña Nieto bungled his response to the crisis.
Why Mexicans Are Enraged by Obama’s Big Tuesday Meeting|Ruben Navarrette Jr.|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
This house on Parsioneros, after all, was only one of many such narco-tombs in Juarez, known as narcofosas.
An Informant, a Missing American, and Juarez’s House of Death: Inside the 12-Year Cold Case of David Castro|Bill Conroy|January 6, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Mrs. Wurzel was quite right; they had been supplied, regardless of cost, from Messrs. Rochet and Stole's well-known establishment.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
Sometimes in the case of large plants, cones have been known to occur on the tips of the branches of the Marsh Horsetail.
How to Know the Ferns|S. Leonard Bastin
Her eldest daughter married in America, and was well known as a modeller in wax in New York.
Women in the fine arts, from the Seventh Century B.C. to the Twentieth Century A.D.|Clara Erskine Clement
The well-known "cock and bull" stories of small children are inspired by this love of strong effect.
Children's Ways|James Sully
But men we had known and trails we had followed furnished us plenty of grist for the conversational mill.
Raw Gold|Bertrand W. Sinclair