English-German translations for rule of thumb

• Faustregel die
  Diese Faustregel gilt für alle neuen Technologien. This is the rule of thumb for all new technology.
  Es scheint, dass es dafür eine Faustregel gibt. It appears that there is a rule of thumb for this purpose.
  Die Faustregel, die dafür gilt, heißt: Je mehr getrunken und je schneller gefahren wird, desto mehr Tote und Verletzte gibt es. The following rule of thumb seems to apply: the more you have drunken and the faster you drive, the more people are killed and injured.
• Daumenregel die
• Pi mal Daumen

Definition of rule of thumb

• A general guideline, rather than a strict rule; an approximate measure or means of reckoning based on experience or common knowledge
• Approximated, guesstimated

Examples

• The usual rule of thumb says that to calculate when an investment will double, divide 70 by the interest rate.
• I made a quick, rule-of-thumb estimate of the manhours required for the job.

Related words

• rule of the road
• rule of the law
• rule of three
• rules of the road
• rules of the game
• to rule something off