significant digits

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plural noun Mathematics.

all the nonzero digits of a number and the zeros that are included between them or that are final zeros and signify accuracy: The significant digits of 0.01230 are 1, 2, 3, and the final 0, which signifies accuracy to five places.

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Also called significant figures .

Origin of significant digits

First recorded in 1920–25

Words nearby significant digits

significance, significance level, significance test, significancy, significant, significant digits, significant figures, significantly, significant other, significant symbol, signification

How to use significant digits in a sentence

And in either case, “the significant benefit from allowing Wi-Fi hotspots outweighs these concerns.”
How ‘Ethical’ Hotel Chain Marriott Gouges Guests in the Name of Wi-Fi Security|Kyle Chayka|December 31, 2014|DAILY BEAST
This “Sixth Migration” of massive human migration to Texas is the larger story of the book, and it is a significant story.
Will Texas Stay Texan?|David Fontana|December 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The town, known in Arabic as Ayn al-Arab, is so significant to ISIS that the group calls it Ayn al-Islam.
The Brothers Who Ambushed ISIS|Mohammed A. Salih|December 27, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Occasionally, guys and girls admitted outright they were looking for a potential significant other.
The Craziest Date Night for Single Jews, Where Mistletoe Is Ditched for Shots|Emily Shire|December 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST

It was the first significant violence directed toward police after weeks of demonstrations across the city.
The High-Priced Union Rep Charged With Attacking a Cop|Jacob Siegel|December 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
In dramatic interpretation the voice is a much more significant feature relatively than is the detail of gesture in pantomime.
Expressive Voice Culture|Jessie Eldridge Southwick
And in his heart the name of the poem repeated itself with significant insistence: Unwelcome!
The Wave|Algernon Blackwood
The finely granular variety is the least significant, and is found when the epithelium is only moderately affected.
A Manual of Clinical Diagnosis|James Campbell Todd
By all the sounded consonants we have—“Inhuman Civil War;” the latter shorter, more significant, and more easily remembered.
Assimilative Memory|Marcus Dwight Larrowe (AKA Prof. A. Loisette)
An odd and somewhat unromantic name, but very significant of the circumstances under which she was found.
The World Before Them|Susanna Moodie

Scientific definitions for significant digits

significant digits

[ sĭg-nĭf′ĭ-kənt ]

The digits in a decimal number that are warranted by the accuracy of the means of measurement. Significant digits are all the numbers beginning with the leftmost nonzero digit, or beginning with the first digit after the decimal point if there are no nonzero digits to the left of the decimal point, and extending to the right. For example, 302, 3.20, and 0.023 all have three significant digits.