quantifyquan‧ti‧fy /ˈkwɒntɪfaɪ $ ˈkwɑːn-/ ●○○ verb (past tense and past participle quantified, present participle quantifying, third person singular quantifies) [transitive] 
an attempt to quantify the region’s social and economic declinedifficult/impossible to quantify The damage caused to the tourist industry is difficult to quantify.—quantifiable adjective: The cost of unemployment to the government is quite easily quantifiable.
WORD ORIGINquantify
Origin:
1500-1600 Medieval Latin quantificare, from Latin quantus; ➔ QUANTITYVERB TABLE
quantify
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | quantify |
| he, she, it | quantifies | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | quantified |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have quantified |
| he, she, it | has quantified | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had quantified |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will quantify |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have quantified |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am quantifying |
| he, she, it | is quantifying | |
| you, we, they | are quantifying | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was quantifying |
| you, we, they | were quantifying | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been quantifying |
| he, she, it | has been quantifying | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been quantifying |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be quantifying |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been quantifying |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- In the UK, the operation will not be performed until the risks are better understood and quantified.
- It's difficult to quantify how long it will take to finish the project.
- It is impossible to quantify what an active cultural life does for a city.
- Just quantifying your financial goals will make you feel more in control of your future.
- But can the numbers and purchasing power of those following the Yuppy life-style be quantified?
- Even so, Sir Matthew admitted that the wider implications of the weak housing market on the industry were hard to quantify.
- Like study of the forest, it may take a generation to quantify the effect on fish stock.
- Similarly, insects and land snail shells are identified, sorted and quantified in the same way as animal and plant remains.
- The incidence of elder abuse is hard to quantify.
- The research should help quantify the differences between older and younger drivers.
- Their objective was to develop a model which quantified the permeability of rock as drilling proceeded.
- This, the Riemann curvature tensor, quantifies space-time curvature.
THESAURUS
formal to find out an amount, price, or value by adding numbers together: · The students calculated the cost of printing 5000 copies of their book.
to calculate something. Work out is less formal than calculate, and is more common in everyday English: · You need to work out how much you will need to borrow.
(also figure American English) informal to calculate an amount: · We still haven't figured out how much it's all going to cost.· the method for figuring welfare payments
to find out the total number of things or people in a group by looking at each one and adding them all together: · The teacher counted the children as they got on the bus.
(also total up) to add a number of things together to get a final number: · Once the scores have been totaled, we will announce the winner.· Okay, now let's total up who had the most points.
formal to say how much something costs, how much of it there is, how serious or effective it is etc: · I think it's difficult to quantify the cost at the moment, for a variety of reasons.· How do you quantify the benefits of the treatment?· a reliable method for quantifying the amount of calcium in the blood
formal to calculate what the value or cost of something is, or decide how good, bad etc something is: · The value of the paintings was assessed at $20 million.· They are still assessing the damage.· We need to have a better way of assessing students' progress.
to guess an amount, price, or number as exactly as you can, based on the knowledge you have: · The police department estimates that the number of violent crimes will decrease by 2%.
to say what you think the exact total amount or value of something is, especially when it is a lot: · It's hard to put a figure on it, but the final cost is likely to be over £225 million.· The company has refused to put a figure on its losses.
to calculate what an amount will be in the future, using the information you have now: · The company projects sales of $4 million this year.
Longman Language Activatorto measure something to find out the size or amount of something, by using a special tool, machine, or system: · Can you measure the desk to see if it'll fit into that corner?· The GNP figures measure the rate of growth in the economy.· Electrodes were attached to his chest in order to measure his heart rate.measure something at something: · Seismologists in Japan measured the earthquake at 7.7 on the Richter scale.· Some species of python have been measured at over 28 feet long.
to find out how heavy something is by measuring its weight with special equipment: · Weigh all the ingredients carefully before mixing them together.weigh yourself: · Every time I weigh myself I seem to have got heavier!
to measure how long it takes for someone to do something or for something to happen: · We timed how long it took us to get there.· The swimming teacher always times us over 100 metres.be timed at 20 miles per hour/3 minutes etc: · The fastest big cat, the cheetah, has been timed at over 60 mph.
to measure how hot someone is, how fast their heart is beating etc, as part of a medical examination: take somebody's pulse/temperature/blood pressure: · My mother took my temperature and sent me back to bed.· The doctor will take your blood pressure and check your weight.
to look at the number or result that a piece of equipment is showing when you are using it to measure something: · Someone came to read the electricity meter this morning.· The nurse read the thermometer and told me that my temperature was normal.
use this when a number or result often changes: · Scientists took readings over several weeks and found that there was no unusual volcanic activity.
to measure how much of something such as gas, water, or electricity is used, so that the companies supplying the gas etc know how much their customers should pay: · The gas is metered and they send you a bill every three months.· They've introduced a system of metering the amount of water used in a household.
to guess or judge in advance how much something will measure, use, cost etc, according to all the things that affect it: · Recent polls have gauged the president's support at 85% or more.gauge how many/how much etc: · When all the figures are available, it should be possible to gauge how much we'll need to spend.
to measure the size, speed etc of something and keep the information so that it can be used later: · Police recorded his speed at 99.04 miles per hour.· Last year the company recorded a profit of £1.4 million.
formal to measure something and express it as a number or amount, so that it can be counted and compared to other amounts: · Just quantifying your financial goals will make you feel more in control of your future.· In the UK, the operation will not be performed until the risks are better understood and quantified.difficult/hard/impossible etc to quantify: · It's difficult to quantify how long it will take to finish the project.
able to be measured if something is measurable , it is possible to measure it: · Pain and suffering are not measurable.measurable benefits/improvements/results etc: · While the technique had little impact on infants, it produced measurable benefits with 7 to 9 year olds.
formal if something is quantifiable , it is possible to measure it and show it as a number or amount, so that it can be compared to other numbers or amounts: · More complete and quantifiable data has come from the laboratory recently.· Managers should have clear goals and their performance should be quantifiable.
WORD SETSacre, nounacreage, nounavoirdupois, nounbaker's dozen, nounbalance, nounbarometer, nounbaseline, nounbasin, nounbaud rate, nounbearing, nounbecquerel, nounblack box, nounboiling point, nounbottle, nounbox, nouncalculator, nouncalibrate, verbcalibration, nouncc, centi-, prefixcentimetre, nouncircumference, nouncl, clock, verbcm, cu, cubic, adjectivecubit, nouncup, nouncupful, nouncwt, daylight saving time, noundeci-, prefixdecibel, noundecimalization, noundeflection, noundegree, noundensity, noundepth, noundimension, noundipstick, noundisplacement, noundoz., noundozen, numberelevation, nounfactor, nounfathom, nounfl oz, fluid ounce, nounfoot, nounft, g, gage, noungal, gallon, noungauge, noungauge, verbGB, Geiger counter, noungigabyte, noungill, noungirth, noungm, graduated, adjectivegraduation, noungrain, noungram, noungramme, noungrid, noungross, adjectivehandful, nounhectare, nounhertz, nounhigh, adjectivehundredweight, nounimpedance, nounimperial, adjectiveinch, nounindicator, nouninstrument, nounjoule, nounkarat, nounkg, kilo, nounkilo-, prefixkilogram, nounkilometre, nounkm, knot, nounl, latitude, nounlb, league, nounlength, nounlight year, nounliter, nounlitre, nounlow water mark, nounmax, nounmaximum, adjectivemean, adjectivemeasure, verbmeasure, nounmedian, nounmedium, adjectivemegaton, nounmelting point, nounmental age, nounmeter, nounmeter, verb-meter, suffixmetre, noun-metre, suffixmetric, adjectivemetrication, nounmetric ton, nounmg, MHz, microsecond, nounmile, nounmillennium, nounmilli-, prefixmillibar, nounmilligram, nounmillilitre, nounmillimetre, nounminus, adjectiveminute, nounml, mpg, mph, nano-, prefixnanosecond, nounnautical mile, nounounce, nounoverweight, adjectiveoz, pace, verbpart, nounpedometer, nounpint, nounplus, adjectivepoint, nounpound, nounpunnet, nounqt, quantify, verbquart, nounradioactive dating, nounradius, nounrain gauge, nounread, verbreading, nounrecord, verbreset, verbrev, nounrotation, nounrpm, rule, nounruler, nounscale, nounsea level, nounsea mile, nounseismograph, nounsensor, nounset square, nounsextant, nounsnowfall, nounsoundings, nounsq., subsonic, adjectivesundial, nountherm, nountimberline, nountog, nounton, nountonnage, nountonne, nountroy weight, noununit, nounvoltmeter, nounvolume, nounwatch, nounwatt, nounwattage, nounweighbridge, nounweight, nounwidth, nounwt., yard, nounyardage, nounyardstick, nounyd, zero, number
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY The damage caused to the tourist industry is difficult to quantify.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSNOUN
to calculate the value of something and express it as a number or an amount: The damage caused to the tourist industry is difficult to quantify.· From this view any attempt to quantify or verify the meanings is misleading.
an attempt to quantify the region’s social and economic declinedifficult/impossible to quantify The damage caused to the tourist industry is difficult to quantify.—quantifiable adjective: The cost of unemployment to the government is quite easily quantifiable.