INTERPOLATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does interpolate mean? 

• INTERPOLATE (verb)
  The verb INTERPOLATE has 2 senses:

1. estimate the value of

2. insert words into texts, often falsifying it thereby

  Familiarity information: INTERPOLATE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• INTERPOLATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they interpolate    ... he / she / it interpolates   
Past simple: interpolated   
Past participle: interpolated   
-ing form: interpolating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Estimate the value of

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

extrapolate; interpolate

Hypernyms (to "interpolate" is one way to...):

calculate; cipher; compute; cypher; figure; reckon; work out (make a mathematical calculation or computation)

Domain category:

math; mathematics; maths (a science (or group of related sciences) dealing with the logic of quantity and shape and arrangement)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

interpolation ((mathematics) calculation of the value of a function between the values already known)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Insert words into texts, often falsifying it thereby

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Synonyms:

alter; falsify; interpolate

Hypernyms (to "interpolate" is one way to...):

edit; redact (prepare for publication or presentation by correcting, revising, or adapting)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

interpolation (the action of interjecting or interposing an action or remark that interrupts)

interpolation (a message (spoken or written) that is introduced or inserted)

 Context examples 

But the movie, which uses a sequence of 36 interpolated images each separated by 20 minutes, certainly provides a truly stunning 360-degree preview of the overall complex shape of the comet.

(Rosetta Comet May Be a Contact Binary, NASA)

"You have called it 'achieving the impossible,'" she interpolated.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

I was inclined to interpolate, as I looked at him, that I had seen his first cousin in Kensington.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

“Yes, sir,” the cook eagerly interpolated, with appeasing and apologetic servility.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)

Although less obvious in the 'real' image, the movie of interpolated images supports the presence of two definite components.

(Rosetta Comet May Be a Contact Binary, NASA)