fudge factor
English
editPronunciation
editAudio (General Australian): (file)
Noun
editfudge factor (plural fudge factors)
- (idiomatic, engineering) A quantity introduced to compensate for uncertainty.
- We don't know exactly how much the load will weigh, so we'll add in a fudge factor to make sure we don't underestimate.
- (idiomatic) Any padding or compensation built into a guess or estimate.
- (idiomatic) variant of "pucker factor", meaning something is/was frightening.