1
a(1)
: of the same measure, quantity, amount, or number as another
(2)
: identical in mathematical value or logical denotation : equivalent
b
: like in quality, nature, or status
c
: like for each member of a group, class, or society
provide equal employment opportunities
2
: regarding or affecting all objects in the same way : impartial
3
: free from extremes: such as
a
: tranquil in mind or mood
b
: not showing variation in appearance, structure, or proportion
4
a
: capable of meeting the requirements of a situation or a task
b
: suitable
bored with work not equal to his abilities
1
: one that is equal
insists that women can be absolute equals with men—
Anne Bernays
Anne Bernays2
: an equal quantity
equaled or equalled; equaling or equalling
1
: to be equal to
especially
: to be identical in value to
2
archaic
: equalize
3
: to make or produce something equal to
Synonyms
Adjective
- candid
- disinterested
- dispassionate
- equitable
- evenhanded
- fair
- impartial
- indifferent
- just
- nonpartisan
- objective
- square
- unbiased
- unprejudiced
Noun
Verb
Examples of equal in a Sentence
Adjective
an equal number of apples and oranges
We divided the profits into three equal shares.
The play combines tragedy and comedy in equal measure.
The opposing candidate has demanded equal time on television.
The fractions 1/2 and 2/4 are equal.
providing equal opportunities for children of all races
We need to have equal academic standards for male and female students.
Noun
I consider him my equal.
We are all equals here.
Verb
Nothing can ever equal that experience.
See if you can equal that!
a weight lifter attempting to equal his rival's performance
No one can equal him in chess.
Recent Examples on the WebEric Zeman, PCMAG, 16 Apr. 2024
Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and roll them into balls.
—Kate Bradshaw, The Mercury News, 15 Apr. 2024
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz instructed Chinese officials to promote free trade and equal business opportunities, one week after the US Treasury Secretary pressed Beijing on the same trade issues.
—Bloomberg, Fortune Europe, 15 Apr. 2024
Sting, who performed with equal elan in October at his SDSU concert here, was in excellent voice throughout Saturday.
—George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Apr. 2024
By doing this, the lottery can ensure that each player has an equal amount of odds of winning in that drawing.
—USA TODAY, 13 Apr. 2024
As recently as 2008, Democrats and Republicans got equal amounts of support among white voters, but conservative white voters turned against the Democratic Party during President Obama’s tenure.
—David Lauter, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2024
Somers had wanted a pay hike that would put her on equal standing with her male costar, Ritter, but was denied.
—Erin Clack, Peoplemag, 13 Apr. 2024
Audiences get to know these characters and setting on equal footing regardless of prior knowledge and can be equally surprised by what’s revealed on their journey.
—Richard Newby, TIME, 12 Apr. 2024
Theo Zenou, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Mar. 2024
Sparing us the decade-long gap between those projects, Winslet has made a quick return to HBO with The Regime, a six-episode story that struggles to come together as the equal of its predecessors.
—Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Feb. 2024
Finally, having trust in AI is actually something quite different from the concept of trust among humans, because the machine is not the equal of the human.
—Hamilton Mann, Forbes, 24 Feb. 2024
Imagine the league replacing a top MLS player such as Messi with a minor league player and trying to pass them off as equals.
—Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2024
In movies, sound and image are equals, and talk is action.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 22 Feb. 2024
Mbappé, alongside first Neymar and then Lionel Messi, too, was supposed to establish the club as a genuine superpower, an equal of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and the giants of the Premier League.
—Rory Smith, New York Times, 16 Feb. 2024
Hispano-Suiza, founded in 1904, set the stage as a Spanish luxury marque every bit the equal of Rolls-Royce, Bugatti, and Mercedes.
—Robert Ross, Robb Report, 5 Feb. 2024
The two will be equals, but Ms. O’Neill, whose party captured more seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly in the 2022 elections, will hold the more prestigious title.
—Brian Melley, The Christian Science Monitor, 4 Feb. 2024
Roxana Popescu, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Apr. 2024
Of that sum, SEA units comprise 105,000 (equaling 137.95 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 12 songs), album sales comprise 9,000 and TEA units comprise 1,000.
—Keith Caulfield, Billboard, 14 Apr. 2024
Winner-take-all — for the most part The Constitution leaves it up to the states to decide how to allocate their electoral votes, which equal the size of a state's congressional delegation (all representatives plus two senators, with three votes assigned to the District of Columbia).
—Geoffrey Skelley, ABC News, 11 Apr. 2024
This even though the rate of inflation has come down significantly from earlier highs and the incomes of Americans, on average, have risen to equal or often exceed the higher costs for most goods and services.
—Don Lee, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2024
Four minutes of totality on the ground equals closer to six minutes of totality in the plane, Layshock said.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 3 Apr. 2024
There is only one change: Every race exists, cheerfully and seemingly as equals, in the same place at the same time.
—Kabir Chibber, New York Times, 31 Mar. 2024
In March 2024, the reward for each new bitcoin equaled 6.25 bitcoin plus transaction fees and at the end of December 2023, the price of a bitcoin was $42,288.
—Peter Cohan, Forbes, 30 Mar. 2024
This equals a 1:1 ratio of CBD and CBG in each bottle.
—All Cbd Naturals, Discover Magazine, 3 Apr. 2024
Adjective
Domed lenses of equal size are near the top end of the bar.
—Eric Zeman, PCMAG, 16 Apr. 2024
Divide the dough into 8 equal pieces and roll them into balls.
—Kate Bradshaw, The Mercury News, 15 Apr. 2024
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz instructed Chinese officials to promote free trade and equal business opportunities, one week after the US Treasury Secretary pressed Beijing on the same trade issues.
—Bloomberg, Fortune Europe, 15 Apr. 2024
Sting, who performed with equal elan in October at his SDSU concert here, was in excellent voice throughout Saturday.
—George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Apr. 2024
By doing this, the lottery can ensure that each player has an equal amount of odds of winning in that drawing.
—USA TODAY, 13 Apr. 2024
As recently as 2008, Democrats and Republicans got equal amounts of support among white voters, but conservative white voters turned against the Democratic Party during President Obama’s tenure.
—David Lauter, Los Angeles Times, 13 Apr. 2024
Somers had wanted a pay hike that would put her on equal standing with her male costar, Ritter, but was denied.
—Erin Clack, Peoplemag, 13 Apr. 2024
Audiences get to know these characters and setting on equal footing regardless of prior knowledge and can be equally surprised by what’s revealed on their journey.
—Richard Newby, TIME, 12 Apr. 2024
Noun
As far as he was concerned, Moroccan Jews were the equals of Moroccan Muslims.
—Theo Zenou, Smithsonian Magazine, 8 Mar. 2024
Sparing us the decade-long gap between those projects, Winslet has made a quick return to HBO with The Regime, a six-episode story that struggles to come together as the equal of its predecessors.
—Daniel Fienberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 27 Feb. 2024
Finally, having trust in AI is actually something quite different from the concept of trust among humans, because the machine is not the equal of the human.
—Hamilton Mann, Forbes, 24 Feb. 2024
Imagine the league replacing a top MLS player such as Messi with a minor league player and trying to pass them off as equals.
—Kevin Baxter, Los Angeles Times, 19 Mar. 2024
In movies, sound and image are equals, and talk is action.
—Richard Brody, The New Yorker, 22 Feb. 2024
Mbappé, alongside first Neymar and then Lionel Messi, too, was supposed to establish the club as a genuine superpower, an equal of Real Madrid, Bayern Munich and the giants of the Premier League.
—Rory Smith, New York Times, 16 Feb. 2024
Hispano-Suiza, founded in 1904, set the stage as a Spanish luxury marque every bit the equal of Rolls-Royce, Bugatti, and Mercedes.
—Robert Ross, Robb Report, 5 Feb. 2024
The two will be equals, but Ms. O’Neill, whose party captured more seats in the Northern Ireland Assembly in the 2022 elections, will hold the more prestigious title.
—Brian Melley, The Christian Science Monitor, 4 Feb. 2024
Verb
Pizza + wine = happy hour One bottle of vino plus one cheese or margherita pizza equals $25.
—Roxana Popescu, San Diego Union-Tribune, 15 Apr. 2024
Of that sum, SEA units comprise 105,000 (equaling 137.95 million on-demand official streams of the set’s 12 songs), album sales comprise 9,000 and TEA units comprise 1,000.
—Keith Caulfield, Billboard, 14 Apr. 2024
Winner-take-all — for the most part The Constitution leaves it up to the states to decide how to allocate their electoral votes, which equal the size of a state's congressional delegation (all representatives plus two senators, with three votes assigned to the District of Columbia).
—Geoffrey Skelley, ABC News, 11 Apr. 2024
This even though the rate of inflation has come down significantly from earlier highs and the incomes of Americans, on average, have risen to equal or often exceed the higher costs for most goods and services.
—Don Lee, Los Angeles Times, 10 Apr. 2024
Four minutes of totality on the ground equals closer to six minutes of totality in the plane, Layshock said.
—Ashley Strickland, CNN, 3 Apr. 2024
There is only one change: Every race exists, cheerfully and seemingly as equals, in the same place at the same time.
—Kabir Chibber, New York Times, 31 Mar. 2024
In March 2024, the reward for each new bitcoin equaled 6.25 bitcoin plus transaction fees and at the end of December 2023, the price of a bitcoin was $42,288.
—Peter Cohan, Forbes, 30 Mar. 2024
This equals a 1:1 ratio of CBD and CBG in each bottle.
—All Cbd Naturals, Discover Magazine, 3 Apr. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'equal.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near equal
Cite this Entry
“Equal.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/equal. Accessed 24 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
equal
1 of 3 adjective1
a
: exactly the same in number, amount, degree, rank, or quality
an equal number of apples and oranges
officers of equal rank
of equal importance
b
: identical in mathematical value : equivalent
2
: not varying from one person or part to another
equal job opportunities
equal pressure throughout the system
3
: impartial
equal laws
4
: capable of meeting requirements : sufficient
equal to the task
equally
adverb
equal
2 of 3 noun1
: one that is equal
has no equal at chess
2
: an equal quantity
equal
3 of 3 verb
equaled or equalled; equaling or equalling
1
: to be equal to
2
: to produce something equal to : match
see if you can equal that!
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