fudge factor

noun

1. any variable component added to an experiment, plan, or the like that can be manipulated to allow leeway for error.

Example Sentences

That solution is anathema to cosmologists because it is simply a fudge factor that does not explain where dark energy comes from and why it has that value.

From Science Magazine

You could add a fudge factor to account for future inflation, which is, unfortunately, unpredictable.

From Seattle Times

“This is not a fudge factor. This is something wrong,” Kaplan said.

From Seattle Times

This dark energy bears all the earmarks of a fudge factor, called the cosmological constant, that Einstein inserted into his equations a century ago, and later rejected as a blunder.

From New York Times

I totted up what we’d spent on clothes for her in the previous year, added in a 10 percent fudge factor and plunked the money into her savings account just in time for back-to-school shopping.

From Seattle Times