From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishapproximationap‧prox‧i‧ma‧tion /əˌprɒksəˈmeɪʃən $ əˌprɑːk-/ ●○○ AWL noun [countable, uncountable] 1 APPROXIMATELYa number, amount etc that is not exact, but is almost correct SYN estimateapproximation of an approximation of the totala rough/crude approximation (=one that is not very exact) Could you give us a rough approximation of the cost?a good/close/reasonable approximation2 LIKE/SIMILARsomething that is similar to another thing, but not exactly the sameapproximation of/to It was the nearest approximation to a crisis she’d ever experienced.
Examples from the Corpus
approximation• Although it is sometimes simulated by looking through a peephole, this gives only a crude approximation of the condition.• If the first shape is a series of rough-hewed approximations, the second is a shiny patchwork of beautifully stitched leather cut-outs.• As with the others, it was complicated by numerous irregularities, approximations, and ornate embellishments in the park.• We live in a system of approximations.• Five thousand dollars seems to be a reasonable approximation of the actual cost.• There are reasonable approximations of bicarbonate and alkali secretion for each subject on separate occasions.• For a long time, this was sufficient justification for Friedmann's assumption - as a rough approximation to the real universe.• The way in which one would normally try to compute the behaviour of such a world would be to make some approximation.a good/close/reasonable approximation• Because Aristotelian is a good approximation.• Some of the errors introduced will cancel one another out and the answer we get will still be a reasonable approximation.• Therefore, as a reasonable approximation, you can neglect the extra oxygen that plants consume at night.• This is acceptable only if it can be demonstrated that the method gives a reasonable approximation of the actual cost.• This recipe is a good approximation and a whole lot easier to accomplish.• You only need to type in a close approximation of the word and leave it to the spell-checker to sort out.nearest approximation• The nearest approximation of this impossible counter-colonialist dream that we have is disco.From Longman Business Dictionaryapproximationap‧prox‧i‧ma‧tion /əˌprɒksəˈmeɪʃənəˌprɑːk-/ noun [countable]1a number, amount etc that is not exact, but is intended to give an idea of the real number, amount etcThe figures are meant to be an approximation of the costs.2something that is similar to another thing but not exactly the samean approximation to the truth 