Word.ws English Dictionary

approximating

approximating is the present participle and gerund of approximate.

Meaning of approximate

Verb

approximate (third-person singular simple present approximates, present participle approximating, simple past and past participle approximated)

  1. (ambitransitive) To estimate.
    • I approximated the value of pi by taking 22 divided by 7.
  2. (transitive) To come near to; to approach.
    • When you follow two separate chains of thought, Watson, you will find some point of intersection which should approximate to the truth.1911, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax
  3. (transitive) To carry or advance near; to cause to approach.
    • to approximate the inequality of riches to the level of nature1790 November, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event. […], London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], →OCLC

See all 7 meanings of approximate

Questions about approximating

What is approximating the present participle and gerund of?
Approximating is the present participle and gerund of approximate.

Words near approximating in the dictionary

  1. approximatedly
  2. approximately
  3. approximateness
  4. approximates
  5. approximatibility
  6. approximating
  7. approximation
  8. approximation algorithm
  9. approximation algorithms
  10. approximation error
  11. approximation errors

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: approximating (page history and authors); approximate (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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