calculated

Everyday

1. Past form of «calculate»: worked out using numbers: «We calculated the area.» tree →
2. Carefully planned to get a result, often in a sneaky way: «a calculated lie». tree →
3. Meant or likely to do something: «a joke calculated to make him laugh». tree →
4. «A calculated risk» is a risk you take after thinking about the chances. tree →

In the lessons

In maths lessons, «calculated» is what you did when you worked out an answer; «show how you calculated it». In stories, a «calculated move» is a clever, planned action by a hero or villain. Phrases: «calculated risk», «carefully calculated».

Examples

• We calculated the perimeter of the playground. tree →
• She calculated that the trip would take two hours. tree →
• His friendliness was calculated; he wanted something. tree →
• The firefighter took a calculated risk to save the cat. tree →
• The cost was calculated at £50. tree →
• The advert was calculated to make children want the toy. tree →
• He could think of nothing he had done calculated to stir Uncle Remus's grief. tree →

Note

Past form of calculate: drop -e, add -ed. «Calculated» about a person's action can sound cold or sneaky; «calculated risk» is neutral. In maths it just means worked out.

In Jewish tradition

In Sefer Yetzirah it means that Abraham worked things out with numbers as part of making things by letters.

Interpretation. The passage tells of Abraham working with numbers, letters and thought, and so creating. The tradition reads this as a picture of man copying God's way of making the world.

Examples

• "When Abraham our father arose, he looked nnd saw and investigated and observed and engraved and hewed and combin- ed and formed and calculated, and his creation was successful. (Mordell, The Origin of Letters and Numerals according to Sefer Yetzirah (1914)) tree →

Note

Past form of calculate: drop -e, add -ed. «Calculated» about a person's action can sound cold or sneaky; «calculated risk» is neutral. In maths it just means worked out.