Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for split the difference. Search instead for split+the+difference.
Synonyms

split the difference

Idioms  

  1. Compromise between two close figures, divide the remainder equally. For example, You're asking $5,000 for the car and I'm offering $4,000; let's split the difference and make it $4,500. [c. 1700]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Within the fast-casual segment, which tries to split the difference between those two types of restaurants, consumers have shown signs of waning interest in pricier “slop bowls.”

From MarketWatch • Nov. 4, 2025

A few plan to bypass the grid indefinitely, and others expect to split the difference, using a mix of grid and on-site power.

From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 16, 2025

There are reasons to back either side here, so I am going to split the difference and go with a draw.

From BBC • Dec. 2, 2024

Several contemporary observers have tried to split the difference: Think like Jacobs, act like Moses.

From Slate • Sep. 16, 2024

How many times had he used me as a go-between to deliver packages to her, undercharging her so that later they could split the difference?

From "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.