Sample Sentences for
variation
grouped by contextual meaning
(editor-reviewed)

variation as in:  a variation on a theme

Scientists are worried about a new variation of the virus.
variation = version (something that is different than others of its type)
Show 3 more with this contextual meaning
  • I've heard three variations of that joke.
    variations = versions (things that are different than others of their type)
  • Over the years there have been many variations of the Snickers Bar such as the Snickers Almond bar and Snickers Ice Cream bar.
  • Highly empathetic people are more likely to have a gene variation associated with trust and caring.
    variation = version (something that is different than others of its type)
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Show 10 more with 2 word variations
  • It was a sweltering afternoon, but Roy had resigned himself to the fact that there was no change of seasons in South Florida, only mild variations of summer.  (source)
    variations = versions
  • I stopped for a long time to let my nerves settle, then leaned back from my tools and stared up at the face above, searching for a hint of solid ice, for some variation in the underlying rock strata, for anything that would allow passage over the frosted slabs.  (source)
    variation = something different than the rest
  • While we were in Midland, Mom painted dozens of variations and studies of the Joshua tree.  (source)
    variations = things that are different than others of their type
  • Every other sin is a variation of theft.  (source)
    variation = something that is different than others of its type
  • The music went on and on, minute after minute, with astonishing variations, never once repeating itself, almost as though the bird were deliberately showing off its virtuosity.  (source)
    variations = changes in form
  • It came from outside, a rush and a whoosh without variation.†  (source)
  • Over the next century this tune and its variations would be deployed in a succession of mostly cheesy movies, typically as an accompaniment to the sinuous emergence of a cobra from a basket.  (source)
    variations = versions or alternate forms
  • He gives me every variation of smile that there is and I have to kiss his smiling lips.†  (source)
  • I must have heard that statement, or variations of it, a hundred times.†  (source)
  • A variation in a glowglobe's brilliance, a deceptive shadow.†  (source)
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variation as in:  a 60% variation

They found a variation of 600% in the cost of having a baby--largely determined by which hospital was selected for delivery.
variation = difference
Show 3 more with this contextual meaning
  • The variation in medical prices can be shocking.
  • They studied regional language variation by analyzing Twitter data.
  • When all other factors are the same, WalletHub's study found an average of a 65% variation in the cost of auto insurance depending upon whether the insured has excellent credit or no credit history.
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Show 7 more with 2 word variations
  • I'm not good with change right now I can't even yet make a variation in my mile running course.  (source)
    variation = change
  • With many variations, suggested by the nature of his building materials, diversity of climate, and a different mode of social life, Governor Bellingham had planned his new habitation after the residences of gentlemen of fair estate in his native land.  (source)
    variations = differences
  • He regards my present trouble as a variation in form of the troubles which led me to come abroad.  (source)
    variation = change
  • My most absorbing interests at the present time are etymologies of ancient languages, the newer works on the calculus of variations, and Hindu history.  (source)
    variations = changes
  • "How the pleasing plague had stolen on him" he could not say; and before he had expressed the same sentiment with a little variation of words three times over, his sister eagerly interrupted him with, "Ah, my dear Henry, and this is what took you to London!"  (source)
    variation = difference
  • Little in mathematics beyond the elementary level of calculus of variations, and nothing at all about Banach algebra or Riemannian manifolds.  (source)
    variations = changes
  • She began to feel that she had not yet gone through all the changes of opinion and sentiment which the progress of time and variation of circumstances occasion in this world of changes.  (source)
    variation = difference
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