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Unknown quantity   /ənnˈoʊn kwˈɑntəti/   Listen
Unknown quantity

noun
1.
A factor in a given situation whose bearing and importance is not apparent.
2.
A variable whose values are solutions of an equation.  Synonym: unknown.





WordNet 3.0 © 2010 Princeton University


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"Unknown quantity" Quotes from Famous Books



... stronger than ever, while in very truth it is only melting faster and faster. At last he is over the border of moderation before he conceives that he had so much as approached it. Then, alas! the word "moderation" stands for an unknown quantity, easy to use but hard to define, since one man's moderation may be another man's excess, and to-day's moderation may be an excess ...
— Frank Oldfield - Lost and Found • T.P. Wilson
... obvious that whatever the eventual solution of the impasse, the one thing he could not do was retreat. We were fewer in number, but much better armed than the gipsy party, so that it was unlikely they would rally to their man's aid. Kagig was an unknown quantity, but except that his black eyes glittered rather more brightly than usual he made no sign; and we kept quiet because we did not want to start a free-for-all fight. Will was quite able to take care of any single opponent, and ...
— The Eye of Zeitoon • Talbot Mundy
... unites the stories in this book is like that. It is the sign of the unknown quantity, the sense of mystery and strangeness, ...
— The Unknown Quantity - A Book of Romance and Some Half-Told Tales • Henry van Dyke


Words linked to "Unknown quantity" :   factor, variable


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