Did you know?

Click any word in a definition or example to find the entry for that word

calculate

 - definition
Close

What are red words?

90% of the time, speakers of English use just 7,500 words in speech and writing.These words appear in red, and are graded with stars. One-star words are frequent, two-star words are morefrequent, and three-star words are the most frequent.

Close

Thesaurus

The thesaurus of synonyms and related words is fully integrated into the dictionary entries. Click on the T button in an entry to review the synonyms and related words for that meaning.

more
verb [transitive] British English pronunciation: calculate /ˈkælkjʊleɪt/ 
Word Forms
Close
present tense
I/you/we/theycalculate
he/she/itcalculates
present participlecalculating
past tensecalculated
past participlecalculated

Related dictionary definitions

  1. 1
    to discover a number or amount using mathematics or with a piece of equipment such as a calculator

    We’ll need to calculate the overall costs.

    calculate (that):

    He calculates that the proposal would cost £4 million a year.

    calculate how/what:

    The program helps you to calculate how much tax you have to pay.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  calculateThesaurus entry for this meaning of calculate
  2. 2
    to make a judgment about what is likely to happen or likely to be true using the available information

    It’s difficult to calculate the long-term effects of these changes in the law.

    Thesaurus entry for this meaning of  calculateThesaurus entry for this meaning of calculate

phrase

phrasal verbs

This is the British English definition of calculate. View American English definition of calculate.

Change your default dictionary and thesaurus to American English.

 

showmance

a romantic relationship between two members of the cast of a play, film or television series

BuzzWord Article

Word of the Day Word of the Day

slime

a thick, wet, unpleasant substance that covers something

Open Dictionary

human-readable

able to be read and understood by people

add a word

Blog

A must for anyone with an interest in the changing face of language. The Macmillan Dictionary blog explores English as it is spoken around the world today.

global English and language change from our blog