Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

give or take

Word Rarity Common

Frequency: Zipf frequency 5.46 in modern English

Syllables: give or -take
IPA

18

Scrabble Score

10

Letters

2

Syllables

9

Unique Chars

Meaning

adv

Approximately; plus or minus some unknown amount.

Informal

adv

Approximately; within a certain margin of error.

Informal

Example Sentences

"He was six feet tall, give or take."
"Estimate Lakenheath twelve thirty hours. Give or take a few minutes, natch."
"six months, give or take a few days"
"Individual episodes are still thrilling and often quite striking, give or take some pitch-black battle scenes. But the gradual ramping up of the plotting that has grown steadily in the past three seasons crossed some invisible Maginot line this year, where the formerly acceptable trade-offs of focus for fun are no longer quite so taken for granted."

Etymology

First attested in c. 1958. See cite below.

Origin

First known use: First attested in c. 1958

Usage

Informal

Phrases

give and take

Frequently Paired Words

give and take

Synonyms

-ish about all but almost approaching around by and large circa close close to essentially for all practical purposes

Questions

What does give or take mean?: Approximately; plus or minus some unknown amount.
Where does give or take come from?: First known use: First attested in c. 1958.

How to pronounce give or take

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