average

If someone or something is average, it’s typical, normal, routine, or usual.

• The average temperature for this time of year in the upper midwest is about 50 degrees. Yesterday the temperature was about 45 degrees, which is a little below average.
• Vince is an average student. He gets average grades, B’s, C’s, and an A every now and then.
• The average worker in the United States makes about $47,000 a year.
• An average work week is 40 hours.
• The average commute to work is about 25 minutes.
• What’s the average age at which people get married in your country?

On average, people in the U.S. get married in their mid to late 20s.

You can also use "average" as a verb:

• Their business averages $4000 per day in sales.
• They’re averaging close to 200 customers per day on the weekend.
• He averaged 20 points per game last year playing basketball. That’s pretty good.

As a noun, the word "average" can be singular or plural:

• Rainfall averages for this area have been dropping recently. Last year we were in a drought.
• Some of these numbers look kind of low. What’s the average?
• How do you figure out the average?
• Do you know what their averages are?
• An average is a number that is somewhere around the middle of the highs and the lows.

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Published April 5, 2013