margin of error
27
4.2
- noun
- /ˈmɑrdʒɪn əv ˈɛrər/
- Specialized
:
margen de error
- The ending sample was found to represent the student population as a whole with a margin of error of 4.5%.
- margin of error and confidence interval
- margin of error (95% confidence)
- margin of error for the estimate
You'll build in a margin of error and you're OK.
- You'll build in a margin of error and you're OK.
- What's your threshold for margin of error where you know it's good enough?
- I mean, the polls were really close within the margin of error in many states, and we had a feeling that we could win.
- The statistics in the polls, every A+ quality poll shows it is a toss up within the margin of error with a slight advantage to Trump.
- And so that ends up being where you'll have that margin of error, that standard deviation bar on the chart be a bit wider.
- That is how much data you need to actually have a realistic margin of error or margin of safety in your statistics.
- And the, you know, margins of error between crucial capillaries is very, very small.
- But boy, his momentum only is getting him from like down to points to up two points in a margin of error poll that has a four point window.
- That said, we're really not that far test variation from margin of error, things like that from sensor reading differences.
- And, and a huge number of pundits don't pay enough attention to the margin, margin of error.
- And it's because the higher you move in your commitment to being the best in the world, the, the smaller your margin of error.
Examples
-
That test has a five percent margin of error.
-
Statistically, the margin of error is within three percentage points, with a 95 percent level of confidence.
Academic text (1993) -
These things have a margin of error.
-
Within an acceptable margin of error, the missing water had been found.
Academic text (1992) -
The poll has a two percent margin of error.
Fiction book (1996) -
At the 95th confidence interval, the margin of error for the total sample is 2.4 percent.
Academic text (2006) -
The poll of 801 voters has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 percentage points.
Blog text (8) -
The results for each party have a margin of error of 5 percentage points.
-
That test has a five percent margin of error.
-
The overall results have a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Synonyms
226
3.9
An extra amount left for safety or small mistakes
11
3.7
Space that allows small mistakes without big problems
1
3.7
An extra amount people keep to allow for errors and prevent harm
1
4.5
An extra amount beyond the minimum to keep something safe
Antonyms
How Narrow
- Literature
4
4.2
6
3.6
- Specialized
27
4.2
- Literature
3
6.5
- Literature
1
4.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'an allowed or calculated degree of error' is directly derivable from combining 'margin' (an allowance or leeway) with 'error' (a mistake), with 'of' serving as a simple linker; a learner who knows the constituent words can infer the phrase. The noun + of + noun compositional pattern is common across languages (e.g., Spanish 'margen de error', French 'marge d'erreur'), so the expression is readily predictable and transparent to B1 learners.
Etymology
Margin of error comes from the image of a small margin, a border left for possible error or small mistakes, like leaving a little space around a number so a small mistake does not change the result. That's why it means the 'allowed' amount something can be wrong and still be acceptable.