variablevar‧i‧a‧ble1 /ˈveəriəbəl $ ˈver-/ ●●○ AWL adjective 
Expect variable cloudiness and fog tomorrow. Interest rates can be highly variable.variable in size/shape/colour etc These fish are highly variable in color and pattern.2sometimes good and sometimes bad: The quality of pork is often less variable than beef.3able to be changed: The heater has variable temperature settings.—variably adverb—variability /ˌveəriəˈbɪləti $ ˌver-/ noun [uncountable]
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- Demand for the company's products is variable.
- Medical insurance coverage in foreign countries is highly variable.
- The drill has variable speeds.
- The weather here is likely to be very variable.
- Brain maps are just as variable as faces.
- Hedgehog cacti are variable in form, but many are barrel shaped or globular.
- Information regarding variable ventilation efficacy and levels of formaldehyde and micro-organism concentrations were sought.
- The return will be variable, as building societies change the rates paid to investors.
- This process of elaborating a concept and moving toward empirical indicators is the crucial step in variable analysis.
- We now have two documents: a template of the shell text and a variable list.
Longman Language Activatoroften changing or likely to change
feelings or conditions that are changeable change frequently so that it is difficult to know what they will be like in a short time: · You love him now, but at your age feelings are changeable.· I'm a changeable sort of person.· changeable weather
behaviour, processes, or services that are erratic change suddenly in an unexpected and surprising way, when it would be better if they remained the same: · Her behaviour was becoming more and more erratic.· Heating was difficult owing to erratic supplies of gas, electricity and water.· The company's erratic performance is a cause for some concern.
a volatile situation or character is likely to change suddenly and unexpectedly: · The political situation in the Balkans is still extremely volatile.· She formed enduring friendships with women and more intense, volatile ones with men.
a person, situation, or system or government that is unstable is likely to change suddenly and become worse, because there is something wrong with their character or the way things are organized: · Regimes governed by violence are always unstable.· Was it safe to trust someone who was so emotionally unstable?
changing according to the situation - use this about amounts, prices, speeds, temperatures etc: · Demand for the company's products is variable.· The weather here is likely to be very variable.
inconsistent behaviour or work changes too often from good to bad, and you cannot trust it to be good all the time: · People feel threatened when decision-making is inconsistent and arbitrary.· A succession of injuries produced an inconsistent season for one of our best players.
conditions or situations that are unsettled change frequently so that it is impossible to make plans or know what will happen: · It is dangerous to visit there while the political situation is so unsettled.· The weather has been very unsettled lately.· Eliot led a strangely unsettled life, drifting from place to place and job to job.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Interest rates can be highly variable. These fish are highly variable in color and pattern.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB
Interest rates can be highly variable. These fish are highly variable in color and pattern.· The rather specific environmental requirements of salt weathering mean that its action is spatially highly variable.· The period-to-period growth in offshore deposits at times has been highly variable relative to the growth in domestic deposits.· The attitude of employers to domestic responsibilities is of considerable importance and highly variable.· These fish are highly variable in color and pattern.· Communication Colour is more important to fish than to mammals and birds, and in fish it is often highly variable.· Although it was policy for all children to be welcome in council provision, in reality this was highly variable.· Staining times in particular are highly variable, and those given herein should only be used as a starting point.· The amount of delegation that occurs is thus highly variable and seldom entirely predictable.
· The sensor can be adjusted through 180° horizontally and 90° vertically, so the detection zone is therefore almost infinitely variable.· Combinations are infinitely variable and the ultimate choice of elements will be determined by the requirements of a particular application.
NOUN· In reality variable costs do not behave strictly in this manner.· Fixed costs should be separated from variable costs.· Where is a measure of the relative factor intensities in fixed and variable costs.· At the same time, assume that variable costs per unit decline to $ 340.· On many farms, there's still plenty of scope in the variable costs, believes Aubourn Farming agronomist Nick Bleach.· Shipping and receiving costs, on the other hand, are variable costs.· So the impact of changes in entrance charges on the frequency decision by participants is diluted by the other variable costs.· Fixed costs and inter-divisional profit are thus transformed into variable costs.
· In reality variable costs do not behave strictly in this manner.· Fixed costs should be separated from variable costs.· Where is a measure of the relative factor intensities in fixed and variable costs.· At the same time, assume that variable costs per unit decline to $ 340.· On many farms, there's still plenty of scope in the variable costs, believes Aubourn Farming agronomist Nick Bleach.· Shipping and receiving costs, on the other hand, are variable costs.· So the impact of changes in entrance charges on the frequency decision by participants is diluted by the other variable costs.· Fixed costs and inter-divisional profit are thus transformed into variable costs.
· In fact the most variable factor in the study of consumer demand for recreation is the tastes of the consumers.· These variable factors include the depth of the water, its temperature and transparency, and its velocity, among others.· Possibly the most variable factor is you, the smallholder.
· At the end of the five years the society's variable interest rate will apply.· People who are paying off a mortgage at a variable interest rate seem to have more to celebrate.· Interest rates have edged down, and more banks are switching to variable interest rates pegged to their prime lending rate.
· It offers Structured Query Language and transaction management capabilities with multi-valued fields, variable length records and dynamic re-structuring.· Binary tree to generate variable length codes Fig. 3.· Further data formats are also provided, for variable length fixed-point binary arithmetic and fixed-length floating-point binary arithmetic.
· For many years secondment has been a local activity of variable quality and quantity.· One of the most notable features of this mosaic is its. variable quality of draughtsmanship and execution.· With second-hand bricks you may have to accept variable quality.· The structural formulae and figures are, however, of variable quality.· However the research has been of variable quality, there are conflicting findings, and the full implications for practice remain unclear.· Summary: A long, north facing wall of variable quality limestone.· Gozitan wine is cheap but just recently has been of variable quality.
· Both Kemira and Hydro have been developing systems that turn the data into variable rate fertiliser application recommendations.· Interest rates continue to fall, giving crucial help to debtors, most of whose loans have variable rates.· Those who pay the standard variable rate are subsidising the preferential rates enjoyed by other more cost-conscious borrowers.· Compare and contrast fixed rate and variable rate loans. 3.· At the beginning of the first year, the fixed rate was 13.25% at a time when the variable rate was 15.25%.· Closer inspection of its standard variable rates reveal that its charges are pretty steep.· At the end of the period, your loan reverts to the lender's standard variable rate.· Then there is a variable rate loan.
· Our drill had variable speed, reverse action and, of course, hammer action.· Single, two-speed or variable speed drives are available on the new Interstore.· Two machines already have variable speed drives.· New chip technology that will give a variable speed drive is also being introduced with a replacement control panel.· The transition from Romanesque to Gothic proceeded at a variable speed in differing countries.· The only controls are a variable speed dial mounted on the top of the trigger, and a small lock-on button.· Such a large sanding area and variable speed are luxuries that many hone improvers may find unnecessary.
WORD FAMILYnounvariablevariancevariantvarietyvariabilityvariationadjectivevariable ≠ invariablevariedvariousadverbvariably ≠ invariablyvariouslyverbvary
1likely to change often: Expect variable cloudiness and fog tomorrow. Interest rates can be highly variable.variable in size/shape/colour etc These fish are highly variable in color and pattern.2sometimes good and sometimes bad: The quality of pork is often less variable than beef.3able to be changed: The heater has variable temperature settings.—variably adverb—variability /ˌveəriəˈbɪləti $ ˌver-/ noun [uncountable]