margin of error

[mahr-jin uhv er-er]

noun

1. Statistics.,  a deviation above or below a given statistic encompassing the range within which the true value is most likely to fall, equal to one-half the span of the confidence interval.

   The poll of likely voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.

2. Also margin for error an amount of extra space, time, resources, etc., allowed to account for mistakes, miscalculations, or altered circumstances.

   The margin of error in the restaurant business is usually razor thin.

   There’s no margin for error with this new deadline, because you’re handing in final papers the day before grades are due.

Word History and Origins

Origin of margin of error¹

First recorded in 1855–60

Example Sentences

That could lead to longer publication delays and a higher margin of error when the data ultimately are released.

Read more on Barron's

“The House vote will likely be very close since the vast majority of House Democrats are expected to oppose, leaving Speaker Johnson very little margin of error to keep his caucus unified,” Evercore’s analysts said.

Read more on MarketWatch

“The margin of error that we have here is very small,” he said, adding that expectations for earnings next year have to remain “robust.”

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Norris described the difficulty of driving on a track with such small margin of error in such changeable conditions as "quite incredible".

Read more on BBC

The results are estimated to have a margin of error of 2 percentage points in either direction in the overall sample, and larger numbers for subgroups.

Read more on Los Angeles Times