Definition of EXTRAPOLATE (original) (raw)

: to predict by projecting past experience or known data

extrapolate public sentiment on one issue from known public reaction on others

: to project, extend, or expand (known data or experience) into an area not known or experienced so as to arrive at a usually conjectural knowledge of the unknown area

extrapolates present trends to construct an image of the future

: to infer (values of a variable in an unobserved interval) from values within an already observed interval

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Scientists worry about the greenhouse effect because they have extrapolated the rate of carbon-dioxide buildup and predicted that its effect on the atmosphere will become increasingly severe. On the basis of their extrapolations, they have urged governments and businesses to limit factory and automobile emissions. Notice that it's acceptable to speak of extrapolating existing data (to produce new data), extrapolating from existing data (to produce new data), or extrapolating new data (from existing data)—in other words, it isn't easy to use this word wrong.

Synonyms

Examples of extrapolate in a Sentence

We can extrapolate the number of new students entering next year by looking at how many entered in previous years. With such a small study it is impossible to extrapolate accurately.

Recent Examples on the Web

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The lack of research on this topic means data collected on males is extrapolated to females, and female athletes usually train based on recommendations made for male athletes. —Susan Lacke, Outside Online, 2 Feb. 2025 The new size isn't confirmed, and extrapolating measurements from a computer animation is dubious. —Will Greenwald, PCMAG, 16 Jan. 2025 The effect is indeed similar to that in baroque music, in which a simple melody is elaborated though a series of procedures—repetition, inversion, fragmentation, layering—the original motif extrapolated into a dizzying construction. —Glenn Adamson, ARTnews.com, 16 Dec. 2024 If this all sounds rather technical, that’s consistent with the result, which was not adapted so much as extrapolated from Tolkien’s dense writing. —Peter Debruge, Variety, 9 Dec. 2024 See all Example Sentences for extrapolate