averaging

1. 1
   noununcountable

   The process of computing an average from a collection of numbers or measured values.

   The averaging of monthly figures smooths out short-term spikes in sales.

   Repeated averaging reduces random noise in the measurements.

2. 2
   verb

   Present participle of average.

   The company is averaging record profits this quarter.

   Rainfall has been averaging well above normal this year.

   Note

   The -ing form does two quite different jobs depending on its object. Averaging the test scores means working out their mean, while a player averaging twenty points a game is not calculating anything; the games produce that mean over time. As a gerund it keeps a direct object (averaging the scores), which sets it apart from the noun for the process, which takes of and can be pluralized as averagings.

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