extrapolate
/ɪkˈstræpəleɪt/ (bre, ipa) · /ɪkˈstræpəleɪt/ (ame, ipa) · /ik-ˈstra-pə-ˌlāt/ (ame, mw)
extrapolate — verb
- extrapolatepresent simple I / you / we / they
- extrapolateshe / she / it
- extrapolatedpast simple
- extrapolating-ing form
1. to form a judgment about something unknown by using facts or patterns you alread
to form a judgment about something unknown by using facts or patterns you already have, often to predict what may come next or how a situation will develop.
Dr. Amara used past infection rates to extrapolate next month's case numbers.
extrapolate + direct object (predicted number)
Elena's test results were used to extrapolate how the medicine might affect older adults.
passive: [data] + were used to extrapolate + how-clause
From January's sales figures, Wei extrapolated that the company would sell about 20,000 units this year.
Based on the first two episodes, loyal fans extrapolated what might happen in the season finale.
Without more data from other countries, we cannot extrapolate these results to the whole world.
- infer
broader — to reach a conclusion from evidence; 'infer' can be about any kind of reasoning, while 'extrapolate' always projects beyond the known data
- project
closer in meaning, but 'project' often suggests a formal calculation or forecast, while 'extrapolate' can be a mental estimate
- forecast
more specific to weather, economic, or business predictions; 'extrapolate' is the method, 'forecast' the result
- deduce
more logical / certain — you deduce what follows necessarily; you extrapolate what might probably happen
文法句型
extrapolate + from + [data/information/pattern]
extrapolate + that-clause
extrapolate + direct object
extrapolate from + noun + that-clause (mixed)
用法筆記
Common in academic, scientific, and business contexts. The object is usually a future outcome, estimate, or trend. Frequently used with 'from' to name the source of information. The intransitive pattern ('we can only extrapolate from what we know') is also natural in formal speech.