To distinguish or differentiate. These nouns refer to a lack of correspondence or agreement. Difference is the most general: differences in color and size; a difference of degree but not of kind. In math, a difference is the remainder left after subtracting one number from another. Chimps and gorillas are both apes, but there are a lot of differences between them. There's a big difference between starting up a business and just talking about it. The things which bind the two of them together are greater than their differences. There are 11 meanings listed in OED's entry for the noun difference, two of which are labelled obsolete. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definitions, usage, and quotation evidence. There's a big difference between starting up a business and just talking about it. The things which bind the two of them together are greater than their differences. The meaning of DIFFERENCE is the quality or state of being dissimilar or different. How to use difference in a sentence. Percentage difference is usually calculated when you want to know the difference in percentage between two numbers. For this calculator, the order of the numbers does not matter as we are simply dividing the difference between two numbers by the average of the two numbers. The difference between two things is the way in which they are unlike each other. This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Difference. If an internal link incorrectly led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. DIFFERENCE definition: the state or relation of being different; dissimilarity. See examples of difference used in a sentence.