as in approximately
close to but not exactly
I have plus or minus five dollars in change
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Recent Examples of plus or minus
The margin of error was plus or minus 3%, with a 95% confidence interval.
—
Emily Dreibelbis, PCMAG, 9 Feb. 2023
The Post-ABC poll was conducted Jan. 27 through Feb. 1, 2023, among a random national sample of 1,003 adults and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points among the full sample and a larger error margin among subgroups.
—Scott Clement, BostonGlobe.com, 6 Feb. 2023
The Post-ABC poll was conducted Jan. 27 through Feb. 1, 2023, among a random national sample of 1,003 adults and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points among the full sample and a larger error margin among subgroups.
—Scott Clement, Washington Post, 3 Feb. 2023
For the third quarter, the company guided for revenue of $2 billion, plus or minus $150 million.
—Kathryn Hardison, WSJ, 26 Jan. 2023
See All Example Sentences for plus or minus
Emily Dreibelbis, PCMAG, 9 Feb. 2023
The Post-ABC poll was conducted Jan. 27 through Feb. 1, 2023, among a random national sample of 1,003 adults and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points among the full sample and a larger error margin among subgroups.
—Scott Clement, BostonGlobe.com, 6 Feb. 2023
The Post-ABC poll was conducted Jan. 27 through Feb. 1, 2023, among a random national sample of 1,003 adults and has a margin of sampling error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points among the full sample and a larger error margin among subgroups.
—Scott Clement, Washington Post, 3 Feb. 2023
For the third quarter, the company guided for revenue of $2 billion, plus or minus $150 million.
—Kathryn Hardison, WSJ, 26 Jan. 2023
See All Example Sentences for plus or minus
Recent Examples of Synonyms for plus or minus
Adverb
-
Entry-level officers in Little Rock currently earn approximately $55,161 annually.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
25 Oct. 2025
-
Franklin Field supervisor Tony Overend said in 2005 that approximately 20,000 to 30,000 pieces of toast are thrown per game.—
Jordy Fee-Platt,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2025
Adverb
-
The display area matches the size of a human pupil and achieves a resolution beyond 25,000 pixels per inch (ppi), which is about 150 times denser than most smartphone screens.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
24 Oct. 2025
-
South Korea’s intelligence agency estimated in September that about 2,000 North Korean soldiers had been killed in the fighting.—
Reuters,
NBC news,
24 Oct. 2025
Adverb
-
The Janesville Farmers Market has close to 100 vendors and serves roughly 5,000 patrons each Saturday from May through October.—
Anna Kleiber,
jsonline.com,
27 Oct. 2025
-
In that roughly 40-second snapshot, Sunderland showcase their defensive discipline, intelligence in build-up, and counter-attacking threat — none of which are new.—
Anantaajith Raghuraman,
New York Times,
26 Oct. 2025
Adverb
-
And rather than being designed in a Top Secret military facility—literally, Area 51, used for the U-2—at the expense of billions of taxpayer dollars, Planet’s doing it with around six hundred employees and hardly a security clearance in sight.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
28 Oct. 2025
-
Wood was a radio announcer and jazz disc jockey and took DeJohnette around to clubs.—
Charna Flam,
PEOPLE,
28 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Plus or minus.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/plus%20or%20minus. Accessed 29 Oct. 2025.
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