Meaning of equal In English

• 0 the same in amount, number, or size:

  • One litre is equal to 1.76 imperial pints.

  • One box may look bigger than the other, but in fact they are roughly (= almost) equal in volume.

  • All people are equal, deserving the same rights as each other.

  • They've got a long way to go before they achieve equal pay/status for men and women.

• 1 skilled or brave enough for a difficult duty or piece of work:

  • It's a challenging job but I'm sure you'll prove equal to it.

  • Is he equal to the task?

• 2 someone or something that has the same importance as someone or something else and deserves the same treatment:

  • The good thing about her as a boss is that she treats us all as equals.

  • Throughout her marriage she never considered her husband as her intellectual equal.

  • As an all-round athlete he has no equal (= no-one else is as good).

• 3 to be the same in value or amount as something else:

  • 16 ounces equals one pound.

  • We raised over $500 for charity last year and we're hoping to equal that this year.

• 4 to result in something:

  • He disputed the idea that more money equals better education.

• 5 the same in amount, number, or size:

  • One quart is equal to four cups.

  • Divide the class into equal groups.

• 6 the same in importance and (of people) deserving the same treatment:

  • equal rights

  • We want a society that promotes equal opportunity for all of its citizens.

• 7 someone or something that is the same in amount, size, or importance as another person or thing:

  • In this country, we’re all equals with the same rights.

  • As an all-around athlete he has no equal (= no one else is as good).

• 8 to be the same in amount, number, size, or importance as another:

  • [ L ] 10 + 10 = 20

  • [ T ] We hope to equal the amount of money we raised last year.

• 9 the same in price, number, size, etc.:

  • The values of cross-border and internal sales were about equal over the year.

  • an equal amount/number/share Instead of an equal share, we got only one-fifth of the profits.

  • equal to sth She received a bonus of $15,065, equal to 40% of her salary.

  • equal in number/value/size Sakhalin is an island north of Japan, with oil and gas reserves equal in size to those remaining in the North Sea.

• 10 treating everyone in the same way or allowing everyone to have the same opportunities:

  • Relationships within an organization are never equal.

  • Congress should focus its efforts on providing equal access to good quality education and job skills.

  • on an equal basis/footing/on equal terms By law, job applications from disabled people should be treated on an equal basis to those from non-disabled candidates.

• 11 if the situation remains the same as it is now, or continues as expected:

  • All things being equal, the market should have recovered by the end of the year.

• 12 to have the ability, experience, or skill that is necessary to do something difficult:

  • I'm not sure he's equal to the demands of such a high-pressure job.

• 13 to be the same in price, number, size, etc:

  • Pre-tax profits are likely to equal last year's despite a £41 million share buy-back programme.

  • Casinos currently pay tax equaling 20% of their gross revenue.

  • equal the cost/number/amount of sth If every household used energy-saving bulbs, the reduction in greenhouse-gas emissions would equal the amount produced by almost 800,000 cars.

• 14 if one thing equals another thing, it results in that thing:

  • Experience has shown us that more accountability equals better performance.

• 15 someone or something who is as important, successful, etc. as someone or something else:

  • be the equal of sb/be sb's equal The EU increasingly sees itself as the equal of the US.

  • On a professional and personal level the two men were equals.

  • treat/accept/see sb as an equal Even though I was only a trainee, I was treated as an equal by the other staff.