Phrase guide

give or take

adv · 3 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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No pronunciation record was provided for this word.

1

adv

Meaning 1

Approximately; plus or minus some unknown amount.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

Examples

  • He was six feet tall, give or take.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: -ish, about, all but, almost, approaching, around, by and large, circa, close, close to, essentially, for all practical purposes, fornigh, give or take, imprecisely, just about, kind of, loosely, more or less, nearly, near, nearabout, nigh on, odd, or so, plus or minus, roundly, roughly, say, some, -some, sort of, thereabout, virtually, well-nigh, ±

Antonyms: none provided

2

adv

Meaning 2

Approximately; within a certain margin of error.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: informal

Examples

  • six months, give or take a few days

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: -ish, about, all but, almost, approaching, around, by and large, circa, close, close to, essentially, for all practical purposes, fornigh, give or take, imprecisely, just about, kind of, loosely, more or less, nearly, near, nearabout, nigh on, odd, or so, plus or minus, roundly, roughly, say, some, -some, sort of, thereabout, virtually, well-nigh, ±

Antonyms: none provided

3

adverb

Meaning 3

plus or minus a small amount

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • it is a mile away, give or take a few hundred yards

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

First attested in c. 1958. See cite below.

Across languages

Translations

14 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Azerbaijani: aşağı-yuxarı — approximately
  • Finnish: likimain — approximately
  • Finnish: suurinpiirtein — approximately
  • Finnish: suuntaan tai toiseen — approximately
  • Galician: máis ou menos — approximately
  • Greek: πάνω κάτω (páno káto) — approximately
  • Hungarian: plusz-mínusz egy/egynéhány — approximately
  • Hungarian: esetleg valamivel/valamennyivel több vagy kevesebb — approximately
  • Indonesian: kurang lebih — approximately
  • Polish: z grubsza — approximately
  • Polish: mniej więcej — approximately
  • Portuguese: mais ou menos — approximately
  • Spanish: más o menos — approximately
  • Spanish: plus minusve — approximately