Pronunciations (3)
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/ˈiːkwəl/
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/ˈiːkəl/
Pronunciation notes
- archaic
- dialectal
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ˈiːkwəl
Adjective
The same in one or more respects.
Usage- not-comparable
- usually
- Synonyms
- Examples
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Near-synonyms: equivalent; see also Thesaurus:equal
More examples (1)
Dr. [Eugenia] Cheng's latest book, Unequal: The Math of When Things Do and Don’t Add Up, is all about equations and will be released in the United States on Tuesday. But it is more than a regurgitation of the many formulas you may recall learning in high school. In the book, Dr. Cheng argues that an equation — in its barest sense, a declaration that two things are equal — can be a profound statement on the choices we make about what is or is not the same. For example, 2 × 3 may equal 3 × 2. But two packs of three cookies each is distinct from three packs of two cookies each. A cube drawn face-on versus from one edge looks different, though we understand the two shapes to be the same. "Almost everything can be considered equal and unequal at the same time," Dr. Cheng wrote. "And it's up to us what we do about it."
The same in one or more respects. The same in value (status, merit, etc): having or deserving the same rights or treatment.
Usage- not-comparable
- usually
- Examples
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We hold that all men are created equal and are thus equal under the law.
All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than the others.
More examples (2)
[Under] the combat exclusion [preventing women from serving in combat...] Women are not equal citizens; women are a certain kind of citizen, a separate class with distinctly lower status.
[…] women and men should be equal regarding civil rights / the right to occupational work.
The same in one or more respects. The same in all respects that matter practically; interchangeable, fungible, or (even sometimes) identical for practical purposes.
Usage- not-comparable
- usually
- Examples
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Equal conditions should produce equal results.
All else being equal, we can expect this factor to have no discernible effect by itself.
More examples (2)
They who are not disposed to receive them may let them alone or reject them; it is equal to me.
I now believe that evolution, or deevolution, never ends short of death, that no society has ever achieved an absolute pinnacle, that all humans are not created equal. In fact, I believe attempts to create some abstract equalization create a morass of injustices that rebound on the equalizers. Equal justice and equal opportunity are ideals we should seek, but we should recognize that humans administer the ideals and that humans do not have equal ability.
The same in one or more respects. Exactly identical, having the same value.
Usage- not-comparable
- usually
- Examples
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All right angles are equal.
More examples (1)
The skipper Mr. Cooke had hired at Far Harbor was a God-fearing man with a luke warm interest in his new billet and employer, and had only been prevailed upon to take charge of the yacht after the offer of an emolument equal to half a year's sea pay of an ensign in the navy.
Fair, impartial.
Usage- not-comparable
- Obsolete
- usually
- Examples
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More examples (1)
it could not but much redound to the lustre of your milde and equall Government, when as private persons are hereby animated to thinke ye better pleas'd with publick advice, then other statists have been delighted heretofore with publicke flattery.
Are not my ways equal?
Thee, O Jove, no equall judge I deem.
Adequate; sufficiently capable or qualified.
Usage- comparable
- not-comparable
- usually
- Examples
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This test is pretty tough, but I think I'm equal to it.
be equal to the task
More examples (4)
Here was a man some twenty thousand miles from home, by the way of Cape Horn, that is—which was the only way he could get there—thrown among people as strange to him as though he were in the planet Jupiter; and yet he seemed entirely at his ease; preserving the utmost serenity; content with his own companionship; always equal to himself.
her comprehension was certainly more equal to the covert meaning, the superior intelligence, of those five letters so arranged.
The Scots trusted not their own numbers as equal to fight with the English.
much less is it in my power to make my commendations equal to your merits.
Not variable; equable; uniform; even.
Usage- not-comparable
- Obsolete
- usually
- Examples
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an equal movement
an equal temper
Intended for voices of one kind only, either all male or all female; not mixed.
Usage- not-comparable
- usually
Verb
To be equal to, to have the same value as; to correspond to.
Usage- copulative
- Examples
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Two plus two equals four.
To make equivalent to; to cause to match.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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David equaled the water levels of the bottles, so they now both contain exactly 1 liter.
More examples (1)
There was an even more remarkable attendance figure that underscores the devotion exhibited by our fans, because it was in 1991 that they set a single season in-stadium attendance record that has never been equaled.
To match in degree or some other quality, to match up to.
Usage- Transitive
- Examples
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And what delights can equal those That stir the spirit’s inner deeps, When one that loves but knows not, reaps A truth from one that loves and knows?
To have as consequence, to amount to, to mean.
Usage- copulative
- Informal
- Examples
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Losing this deal equals losing your job.
Might does not equal right.
More examples (1)
Eclectic and sophisticated are hence coded as negative traits–so cool equaling not so cool–putting Swift in seemed lockstep with the anti-intellectual sentiment that's led to the astonishing 21st-Century Bubbafication of the Republican Party.
Noun
A person or thing of equal status to others.
Usage- Countable
- Uncountable
- Examples
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We're all equals here.
This beer has no equal.
More examples (3)
Those who were once his equals envy and defame him.
The two who have no equals become friends without equal.
They had hoped their son, a stockbroker, would marry a financial equal, but Suzette, a teacher, did not come from money.
State of being equal; equality.
Usage- Countable
- Obsolete
- Uncountable
- Examples
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Thou that presum'st to weigh the world anew, And all things to an equall to restore.
Adjective
having the same quantity, value, or measure as another
- Antonyms
- Examples
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on equal terms
all men are equal before the law
having the requisite qualities or resources to meet a task
- Synonyms
- Examples
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she had adequate training
her training was adequate
More examples (2)
she was adequate to the job
he was equal to the task
Noun
a person who is of equal standing with another in a group
Verb
be identical or equivalent to
- Synonyms
- Antonyms
- Broader terms
- Examples
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One dollar equals 1,000 rubles these days!
be equal to in quality or ability
- Examples
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Nothing can rival cotton for durability
Your performance doesn't even touch that of your colleagues
More examples (1)
Her persistence and ambition only matches that of her parents
make equal, uniform, corresponding, or matching
- Examples
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let's equalize the duties among all employees in this office
The company matched the discount policy of its competitors