proportion1 nounproportion2 verb
proportionpro‧por‧tion1 /prəˈpɔːʃən $ -ˈpɔːr-/ ●●○ W2 AWL noun 
WORD ORIGINproportion1
Origin:
1300-1400 Old French, Latin proportio, from portio; ➔ PORTION1EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- A high proportion of the products tested were found to contain harmful chemicals.
- a program to increase the proportion of women and black people in the police service
- A significant proportion of the elderly are dependent on the basic state pension.
- Architects must learn about scale and proportion.
- Seventy-five percent of California's immigrants are foreign-born, and that proportion is likely to increase.
- The new jobs would largely be unskilled and a high proportion would be in inner city areas.
- The new law is intended to reduce the proportion of road accidents caused by drunk drivers.
- We get a small proportion of our funding from the government.
- What proportion of your income do you spend on food?
- What is the proportion of men to women in your office?
- Already the hyperbole was out of all proportion compared to the evidence.
- It will automatically calculate, for example, what proportion of your income goes on things like the car and household items.
- Ratios between two proportions are not, however, regularly used in analysing contingency tables.
- Severing the umbilical cord between landlords and peasants vastly increased the proportion of the population for which the centre was directly responsible.
- The most desirable proportion of height to length being 9 to 10.
- What proportion have neither one, nor both parents as members of the church?
- Yves Rocher Dynamic Corp Bio-Vegetal range includes gel, tonics and creams all with a high proportion of sea algae.
THESAURUS
how much of something there is: · Try to reduce the amount of fat in your diet.· a tiny amount of poison
a particular amount of food, liquid, or another substance that can be measured – used especially in written descriptions and instructions: · Make sure that you add the right quantity of milk.· They buy the wood in large quantities.
the amount of something such as business activity or traffic, especially when this is large or increasing: · The volume of traffic on our roads has risen sharply.· the huge volume of trade with China
the exact amount of something at one time, which can go up or down at other times: · They measured the level of alcohol in his blood.· There is a high level of unemployment.
the amount of something, compared with the whole amount that exists: · the proportion of road accidents caused by drunk drivers· A high proportion of the students were from poor families.
a maximum amount of something that can be produced, sold, brought into a country etc: · import quotas on Japanese cars
the amount of something that is produced, especially crops: · this year’s cotton yield
Longman Language Activatoran amount that is compared with another amount a number or amount that is calculated as part of a total of 100, and is shown using a % sign: percentage of: · The percentage of women students at the university has increased steadily.a high/large percentage: · Most of the coffee we produce is for export -- a high percentage goes to the US.· A high percentage of businesses fail because of the collapse of a major customer or supplier.a low/small percentage: · The disease is serious, and in a small percentage of cases it can be fatal.· The writer only receives a small percentage of the profits from each book sold.
the number or amount of something, compared with the whole number or amount that exists: proportion of: · The new law is intended to reduce the proportion of road accidents caused by drunk drivers.· a program to increase the proportion of women and black people in the police serviceproportion of something to something: · What is the proportion of men to women in your office?a high/low/large/small proportion: · A high proportion of the products tested were found to contain harmful chemicals.
a set of numbers, such as '20:1' or '5:1', that shows how much larger one quantity is than another: ratio of something to something: · a school where the ratio of students to teachers is about 5:1
a measurement showing the number of times that something happens during a particular period or the number of examples of something within a certain period: · Refugees were crossing the border at the rate of 1000 a day.success/failure rate: · Penicillin has a high success rate in treating bacterial infections.
a very small part of an amount or number: a (small, tiny etc) fraction of something: · The disease affects only a tiny fraction of the population.at a fraction of the cost: · Computers can now do the same job at a fraction of the cost.in a fraction of the time: · A microwave oven cooks food in a fraction of the time required by a normal oven.
when one thing is being compared with another · The British are good drivers compared to those in the rest of the EU.· Statistics show that there has been a 20% reduction in burglary compared with last year.· Women visit their doctors six times a year compared to the three or so visits that men make.
as shown when compared with another situation, idea, person etc: · My car is so slow that it makes a bicycle look fast in comparison.in comparison/by comparison with: · We employ far fewer staff in comparison with similar-sized companies.pale in/by comparison (=to look worse or much less important in comparison): · Forecasters say this year's drought could make that of 1991 pale by comparison.· The Yankees' problems pale by comparison with those of the Dodgers.
use this to talk about the difference between the things, situations, people etc that you are comparing: · I read a lot as a child, but my daughter, by contrast, just seems interested in television.in contrast to: · In contrast to the hot days, the nights are bitterly cold.
use this to say that something seems more or less impressive, important etc when compared to something else: · Tom's efforts seemed so weak beside Martin's.· Delhi is so old that many European cities actually look young beside it.
use this when you are comparing two pieces of information, facts, etc in order to show how they are different: · Last year there were 443 industrial accidents as against 257 in 1985.· With only 57 inhabitants per square mile, as against a world average of over 70, the country is far from overcrowded.
use this to say that something does not seem correct, suitable, impressive etc compared with the things that surround it: · Ricky's head is small in proportion to the rest of his body.· I've always thought that my problems were very minor in proportion to those of many other people.
having a particular quality when compared with something else: · Kim lived a life of relative ease and privilege.relative strength/weakness: · the relative strength of the dollar against the Mexican pesorelative advantages (and disadvantages): · She was terrified of flying. The relative advantages of air travel didn't tempt her at all.relative merits (=what is good about them compared with each other): · The two men stood at the bar discussing the relative merits of various sports cars.it is all relative (=it can not be judged on its own, but must be compared with others): · It's all relative, isn't it? Someone who is poor in this country might be considered well off in another.
: comparative happiness/comfort/safety etc happiness, comfort, safety etc that is fairly satisfactory when compared to another: · After a lifetime of poverty, his last few years were spent in comparative comfort.· Fresh fruit and vegetables have become a comparative rarity in the region.· During the bombings, families sheltered in the comparative safety of the underground rail stations.
: more/less/bigger etc than · Geographically, Canada is bigger than the US.· My sister earns a lot more than I do.
to exaggerate something to say that something is much bigger, better, worse, more important etc than it really is: · "He said you walked 30 miles." "No - he's exaggerating. It was only about 15."· Newspapers tend to exaggerate their influence on the way people vote.· The grass in the garden was about three feet high - I'm not exaggerating.
to say that a situation or event is a lot worse or much more serious than it really is, especially with the result that people become very worried or annoyed: · The whole thing has been blown out of all proportion by the media.· It was just a simple disagreement. Don't blow it up out of all proportion.
to treat something that has happened as though it were more important or serious than it really is: · The press made too much of his stupid remark. He was only joking.· She loved the fact that he'd sent her flowers, but she didn't want to make too much of it in case it meant nothing.
if someone or something is overrated , people say they are much better than they really are: · I think her books are very overrated.· Critics claim that many soccer players are overpaid, overrated and out of touch.
also overemphasise British to say that a part of something is more important than it really is, especially in relation to other things: · The report overemphasizes the role of the teacher. Children also learn from their parents and from each other.· The importance of strict hygiene in the preparation of food cannot be overemphasized.
to describe something in a way that makes it sound more important or serious than it really is, especially in order to persuade people about something: · The company says that the dangers of driving while using cell phones have been overstated.· Politicians typically overstate their case in order to get their point across.
behaving as if a situation is much worse or more serious than it really is, especially with the result that you seem silly: · Oh, don't be so melodramatic! You're not the only one who has ever failed an exam.· She said she'd kill herself if he left her. She's always so melodramatic!
informal to say that your situation is much worse or you feel much more upset than is really true, in order to make someone feel sorry for you: · She really laid it on - saying that her kids would starve if we didn't give you a job.lay it on thick: · Most charities lay it on so thick it's hard to know what the truth is.
part of a total amount or number a part of an amount or number - use this when you are comparing the part with the whole amount or number: proportion of: · What proportion of your income do you spend on food?high/large etc proportion: · The new jobs would largely be unskilled and a high proportion would be in inner city areas.· A significant proportion of the elderly are dependent on the basic state pension.small/tiny proportion: · We get a small proportion of our funding from the government.
a small part of an amount or number, especially a very small part: fraction of: · Employees' salaries are just a fraction of the total cost of the project.· Faxes are expensive, when you consider you can send emails at a fraction of the cost (=for very much less money).small/tiny fraction: · a problem that affects only a small fraction of the total population
a part of an amount or number that can be measured and shown exactly compared to the total: percentage of: · What percentage of our students passed the exam?· The percentage of pensioners living below the poverty line has increased by 15% in the last four years.high/large percentage: · A high percentage of the coffee they produce goes to the US.small percentage: · Only a small percentage of African American employees were considered for promotion.
not too much · Not too much pizza for me please, I'm on a diet.· I won't give you very much homework tonight, so you have time to finish your essay.not eat/drink/talk etc too much · Don't talk too much now - you need to rest.
· You can have a few chips, but not too many.· Not very many people were interested in the project.
· I wasn't too upset when they told me I hadn't got the job.· It was a beautiful sunny day and not too cold.· Don't hit it too hard - just nudge it over the net.
not too much - use this about eating, drinking, and other things that could be unhealthy if you did them too much: · Moderate exercise, such as walking and swimming, can help to prevent heart disease.· New studies show that moderate drinking is good for you.
if you eat or drink something in moderation , you do not eat or drink too much of it: · He only drinks wine in moderation.· Children should be taught not about "bad foods" and "good foods," but rather to eat a wide variety of foods in moderation.
to not allow yourself to become so excited, annoyed etc by an event or situation that you lose a sense of what is reasonable, sensible, or possible: · My confidence was so low it was difficult to keep things in proportion -- the smallest problem seemed like a major tragedy.· The Party's recent successes in the polls are encouraging but they need to be kept in proportion.
WORD SETSabacus, nounalgebra, nounangle, nounarc, nounarea, nounarithmetic, nounarithmetic, adjectivearithmetic progression, nounaxis, nounbar chart, nounbar graph, nounbase, nounbinomial, nounbisect, verbBoolean, adjectiveC, nouncalculator, nouncalculus, nouncanonical, adjectivechord, nouncipher, nouncircumference, nouncircumscribe, verbcompass, nouncomplementary, adjectivecomputation, nouncompute, verbconcentric, adjectivecone, nouncongruent, adjectiveconical, adjectiveconstant, nouncontain, verbcoordinate, nouncoordinate, adjectivecos, cosine, nouncube, nouncubic, adjectivecurvature, nouncurve, nouncut, verbdeci-, prefixdeviation, noundiagonal, adjectivediameter, noundifferential calculus, noundigit, noundimension, noundomain, nouneccentric, adjectiveellipse, nounelliptical, adjectiveequal, adjectiveequal, verbequals sign, nounequation, nounequilateral triangle, nounexponential, adjectiveexpress, verbexpression, nounface, nounfigure, nounflow chart, nounformula, nounfraction, nounfractional, adjectivefunction, noungeometric, adjectivegeometry, noungraph, noungraphically, adverbgraph paper, noungrid, nounHCF, helix, nounheptagon, nounhexagon, nounhistogram, nounhypotenuse, nounimperial, adjectiveimproper fraction, nouninfinity, nouninformation theory, nouninnumerate, adjectiveinto, prepositioninverse, adjectiveisosceles triangle, nounline graph, log, nounlogarithm, nounlong division, nounlozenge, nounmath, nounmathematical, adjectivemathematician, nounmathematics, nounmatrix, nounmean, adjectivemedian, nounmedian, adjectivemetric, adjectiveminus, prepositionminus, nounminus, adjectiveminus sign, nounminute, nounmultiplication, nounmultiplication sign, nounmultiplication table, nounmultiply, verbN, nounnumber, nounnumerate, adjectivenumeration, nounoblong, adjectiveobtuse angle, nounoctagon, nounoval, nounparabola, nounparallel, adjectiveparallelogram, nounpentagon, nounpercentage, nounperimeter, nounperpendicular, nounpi, nounpictogram, nounpie chart, nounplane, nounplane geometry, nounplus, prepositionplus, nounplus, adjectiveplus sign, nounpolygon, nounpolyhedron, nounpower, nounprism, nounprobability, nounproof, nounproportion, nounproposition, nounprotractor, nounquadrangle, nounquadrant, nounquadratic equation, nounquadri-, prefixquadrilateral, nounradius, nounratio, nounrectangle, nounrectilinear, adjectiverecur, verbrhombus, nounright angle, nounright-angled triangle, nounroot, nounruler, nounscale, nounscalene triangle, nounscatter diagram, section, nounsegment, nounsemicircle, nounset square, nounsine, nounslide rule, nounsolid, adjectivesolid, nounsolution, nounsolve, verbsphere, nounsquare, adjectivesquare, nounsquare, verbsquare, adverbsquarely, adverbsquare root, nounsubset, nounsubtract, verbsubtraction, nounsum, nounsurface area, nounsymmetrical, adjectivesymmetry, nountangent, nounterm, nountheorem, nounthreefold, adjectivetimes, prepositiontrapezium, nountriangle, nountrigonometry, nountwo-dimensional, adjectivevalue, nounvariable, nounvector, nounVenn diagram, nounvertex, nounvertical, adjectivevolume, nounwork, verbX, nounx-axis, nouny-axis, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY Meaning 4ADJECTIVES/NOUN + proportions
The problem is beginning to assume massive proportions. He had produced a meal of epic proportions. Violent crime is reaching epidemic proportions in some cities. Clearly, the amount of money people save increases in inverse proportion to the amount they spend. When he was writing, he lost all sense of time. Part-time students make up a sizeable proportion of the college population. A much smaller proportion of women are employed in senior positions.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADJECTIVE
· The company is heading towards a disaster of enormous proportions.
(=very great size, especially in a particular place)· Shoplifting has reached epidemic proportions.
(=very great size or importance)· An argument of epic proportions had ensued.
(=a size or importance that seems almost unreal)· Achieving this was a feat of mythic proportions.
(=a size or importance that only rarely happens)· We were trapped for three days by a blizzard of historic proportions.
(=a size that causes very serious problems)· The water shortage was reaching crisis proportions.
(=a size that is easy to deal with)· First, narrow the choice down to more manageable proportions.
verbs· Alcohol abuse has reached epidemic proportions in this country.
· The fish grows to gigantic proportions.
formal (=become or seem very great)· Unless you deal with it quickly, the damage may assume serious proportions.
· The disease had been reduced to negligible proportions by vaccination.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES The problem is beginning to assume massive proportions. He had produced a meal of epic proportions. Violent crime is reaching epidemic proportions in some cities. (=a very large part of a number) A high proportion of women with children under five work full-time.
A high proportion of women with children under five work full-time. Clearly, the amount of money people save increases in inverse proportion to the amount they spend. When he was writing, he lost all sense of time. (=the ability to judge how important or unimportant something is)· It’s important to keep a sense of proportion.
Part-time students make up a sizeable proportion of the college population. A much smaller proportion of women are employed in senior positions.· At this juncture it should be noted that a considerable proportion of international lending does take this latter form.· A considerable proportion of parenting is in the mundane details that women are raised to manage.· Furthermore diarrhoea or weight loss were absent in a considerable proportion of infected patients.· That could pose a problem of considerable proportions, especially in three-dimensional space.· Rural areas supplied not only agricultural products but also a considerable proportion of manufacturing output.· Nevertheless for the foreseeable future a considerable proportion of elderly people will require care at specific periods of their lives.· The resulting slump left a considerable proportion of productive capacity idle.· Thus a considerable proportion both of paintings and drawings has recently been widely seen.
· Could it be that Europeanism is in direct proportion to dissatisfaction with one's own political institutions?· And as the country got wilder, the population grew thinner and loveliness increased in direct proportion to danger.· The value of higher education, on this view, is in direct proportion to the critical capacities of its graduates.· This indicates that ferritin is released into the serum normally in direct proportion to the amount stored in tissues.· Latin temperaments rose in exasperation in direct proportion to their owners' frustration.· As one grows the other grows in direct proportion.· A spinning cylinder generates lift in direct proportion to the acceleration it imparts on the air streaming by.· Faith's value, some even suggest, grows in direct proportion to its lack of a rational basis.
· The prints in the accompanying exhibition were also of epic proportion - some five feet by four and even larger.· For a team that ranks in the bottom third in caring for the ball, this was a triumph of epic proportions.· Their forced retreat, with a rope too short to reach the ground, took on epic proportions.· Here we have a co-production of mini-series ambitions, but without the necessary budget or pomposity to puff out to epic proportions.
· Shoplifting has reached epidemic proportions and this gave rise to a lively discussion.· The assertion that this has reached epidemic proportions can not be challenged.· By A.D. 54-5, militant activity had again assumed epidemic proportions.· Worldwide sin is at epidemic proportions.
· By far the greatest proportion of those joining the new congregations were Presbyterians and they were mostly from rural areas.· Such survivors, after all, form by far the greatest proportion of patients with coronary disease.· We will continue to extend City Challenge and allocate a greater proportion of resources by competitive bidding.· The change was due to the greater proportion of patients with colonic disease, which in this study had a worse prognosis.· In other words, does the expansion of highly distinctive words result in a greater proportion of useful information?· It will become increasingly important for farmers to obtain a greater proportion of their income from the market.· For example, I share a greater proportion of my genes with my sister than I do with my cousin.· The more the company finances by means of debt, the greater the proportion of future profits which are committed to interest payments.
· Administrative changes during the late nineteenth century should have resulted in a higher proportion of cases being reported.· On the other hand, Mycoplasma infection was found in an abnormally high proportion of people with the syndrome.· Only Torbay, with its high proportion of elderly and retired persons in owner-occupied accommodation, is more poorly provided.· Scores approaching 200 therefore represent a high proportion of very non-standard realizations.· This was often the case with the aged who made up a high proportion of workhouse residents.· In the first place, there is a higher proportion of owner occupation and private furnished renting.· Britain has one of the highest proportions of one parent families.· Certain journals contain abnormally or unexpectedly high proportions of classic references, and hence need longer storage.
· The financial constraints on wives are also not so serious, as an increasing proportion of married women are in full-time work.· They merely pave the way for an increasing proportion of those emissions to come from the burning of imported coal.· An increasing proportion of the early potato crop is grown under polythene sheeting.· In addition there has been an increasing proportion of companies concerned with distribution, and with larger retail unit operations.· As a result, families represent an increasing proportion of households with the lowest standards of living.· In effect, landlords have clawed back for themselves an increasing proportion of rate relief on premises within enterprise zones.· An increasing proportion of these services will be provided by local communities on a fee-paying basis.· An increasing proportion of the latter occupations seek to live beyond the cities and to commute back to them.
· The scope of personal responsibility expands and contracts in inverse proportion to the extent of the protected interests.· When this is not the case, benefit allocations are in inverse proportion to A's and B's.· The stridency of their assertions tended to grow in inverse proportion to the extent of their knowledge on costs.· The proliferation of these diminutive shows will soon be in inverse proportion to the theatres still open to receive them.
· The lives of a large proportion of the world's population are nasty, brutish and short.· Her head was rather large in proportion to the rest of the thin figure.· A large proportion of the new interest came from young people.· Moreover, a small number of diseases command a large proportion of the limited resources.· If one looks to sources other than the canonical scriptures, Thomas's role assumes larger proportions.· Rotterdam handles by far the largest proportion of that.· When drawing children, your will find that the head takes up a much larger proportion of the height.· The second largest proportion comprise married couples with no children, then married couples with independent children.
· At lower levels the proportion of wealth belonging to each group was smaller in Coventry.· The lowest proportion revealed to have the virus in their blood was 44%, the highest 72%.· Manufacturing industry has declined, whilst service industries, which employ a lower proportion of manual workers, have expanded.· A lower proportion of their clients receive one of the three main services for which they were referred.· Salary - a low proportion identified this as a source of dissatisfaction.· No women voted at all, which mainly accounts for the low proportion.· The low proportion with an acquittal outcome probably reflects that the vast majority of these cases involve a guilty plea.· London, Edinburgh and Birmingham have produced the lowest proportions of such under-utilised research.
· Now you've narrowed the choice down to more manageable proportions, it's time for the specialist retailer and test fitting.· For its first 900 years Cairo was a city of manageable proportions.· Again the problem is to winnow these down to manageable proportions.· In charting development within the group two samples of boys have been used to reduce the task to manageable proportions.· It is not simply that Spiegelman reduces unimaginable statistics and intolerable realities to concrete and manageable proportions.· The price of keeping the bonus down to manageable proportions is a somewhat less efficient outcome.· It was adjacent to Saint Cloud, but it was of manageable proportions and it had great romantic charm.
· The attention paid to physical distribution is related to the relative proportion of distribution costs in total costs.· The number of working-class children also rose, but the relative proportions remained approximately the same.· We have some understanding of the relative proportions of the different ecological types.· One is wet sieved as above, and both the mud and sand fractions dried and weighed to establish their relative proportions.· They illustrate the principle of allometry; that an animal's relative proportions may change as it increases in size.· Hence there is less routine manual work to do and the relative proportion of white-collar workers within factories rises.· A mollusc past the initial stages of growth increases in size without significantly changing the orientation and relative proportions of its organs.· Their compositions remain constant but the relative proportions of each change.
· They also do receive a significant proportion of their income from the sale of goods and services rather than from taxes.· Political cultures to refer to those in which there are significant proportions of both the simpler and more complex patterns of orientations.· It follows that a significant proportion of the annual grass crop must be preserved for winter feeding.· By failing to provide stories for a significant proportion of the population, are they not digging themselves a grave?· Nevertheless, it would seem that this was not considered to be a significant proportion.· Conversely, a significant proportion of the companies operating in this country are off-shoots of enterprises whose head offices are situated abroad.· A significant proportion of the dolphin's brain is thought to be used in processing the information produced by the echolocation system.· Even on small contracts, plant costs may account for a significant proportion of total costs.
· These three factors each accounted for similar proportions of combined effect on average pay of around 15 percent.· Belfast city council reduced rents in Smithfield market by a similar proportion.· Strikers in the Staffordshire Senior League are currently facing a weighty problem of similar proportions.· At that, time a similar proportion of Members of Parliament were female.· Levels of digestion on the teeth from these two samples are similar, but proportions of teeth affected differ slightly.· Assuming similar proportions even a study of 5000 patients would not have shown a significant difference between the two groups.· Buckinghamshire would be expected to contribute a similar proportion to the relevant costs of the scheme.
· A sizeable proportion of the episcopal appointments recorded by Gregory are quite clearly uncanonical.· A sizeable proportion of these cases were suspected arson and were related to increased business failure because of high interest rates.· A sizeable proportion of the population did not even listen to the speech.· The Cabinet closed ranks behind him and a sizeable proportion of his back-benchers followed suit.
· This represents only a small proportion of the structure.· Lone parents have much smaller proportions of household heads in the labour market than two parent families.· Even so, as Table 4.1 shows, wholesale funding remains a comparatively small proportion of total liabilities.· A very small proportion of its whole was active.· Higher house prices mean lower rental yields because rent becomes a smaller proportion of the purchase price.· Only a small proportion of those entitled are doing so.· Although many patients are prescribed psychotropic medication, only a small proportion of these will go on to take an overdose.· Women hold a very small proportion of other public offices.
· For example, a substantial proportion of the road tax levied on vehicle owners goes towards paying for road maintenance and improvements.· The Liberal Democrats and ourselves represent a substantial proportion of public opinion throughout the United Kingdom.· Relatively few students reach secondary school, with a substantial proportion of these being in the Khartoum and Northern regions.· The substantial proportion of Cabernet makes for a slightly more elegant wine, with a delicious combination of spice and blackcurrant fruit.· A substantial proportion of time and effort was devoted to the study of a sample of six Major Project schools.· A substantial proportion of the population, the refugees, had been dependent on international help since 1949.· This was because a substantial proportion were very heavily dependent upon the state for their income.· Unfortunately, a substantial proportion of modern mains transformers have either twin primary windings, or a tapped winding.
VERB· A source of silver much exploited in early times was lead sulphide, most notably galena, containing varying proportions of silver.· Sandstone, a sedimentary rock and quartzite, a metamorphic rock, both contain a high proportion of quartz.· Polyphosphates are sometimes referred to as builders and products containing high proportions as built detergents.· For men the older age groups also contain the highest proportions of ex-regular smokers.· The women's daily routines contain a far higher proportion of domestic interruptions than do those of the men.· As a rule it contains varying proportions of base or less precious metals.
· This occurs for non-woody monocotyledons of low biomass, where leaves form a constant high proportion of the total biomass.· Their short-term assets form a much smaller proportion of the total.· In contrast, rental payments are likely to form a more constant proportion of current pay over the life cycle.
· Their confidence grew into overwhelming proportions and in the opinion of many observers they swiftly became Manchester's tedious twosome.· Meanwhile, the system itself had grown to Brobdingnagian proportions.· On their wisdom the industry grew to undreamed of proportions.· Karelin's streak and his story had grown to legendary proportions.· The heap of lumber on my neighbour's veg patch grew to monstrous proportions.· Everyone is an amateur in this world, except the growing proportion of electronic criminals.· Representations of him grew more monstrous in proportion to the scale of the struggles he provoked.· When an extended family is living together at close quarters, even minor irritations can grow out of all proportion.
· This group has a high doctor-patient contact rate but also includes a proportion of patients with unstable or brittle asthma.· These early parties are nearly always found at Thorney Island and include a high proportion of adults in summer plumage.· In particular it provided flexibility by including a significant proportion of short term placements.· Membership of the Codex committees includes a high proportion of commercial interests, with little balancing representation from public interest groups.· Thus the sample included a high proportion of people at the top end of the jobs hierarchy.· The samples tested in this series may not include a high proportion of health care staff involved in invasive procedures.· Thus a social security system that includes a significant proportion of means-testing is bound to be age discriminatory in its effects.
· On the harder ADs and Difficiles, and increasing proportion of pitching will be necessary.· Longer-range follow-ups at 3-8 years reflected increasing proportions of clients becoming total abstainers, and a consistent 10-outcomes.· Aim to increase the proportion of carbohydrates in your diet rather than the sheer volume.· The ability to process information increases in proportion to the number of layers in the network.· As death rates have declined the proportion of elderly classed as married has increased while the proportion widowed has decreased.· And as the country got wilder, the population grew thinner and loveliness increased in direct proportion to danger.· But rewards increase out of proportion to price with the wines from named sites.· For larger values of T -T u the layer thicknesses will increase in proportion.
· Businesses pay a proportion of the rates, heating, lighting and costs.· If by fair you mean that everyone pays the same proportion of his income in taxes, the flat tax comes closer.· Most occupational schemes pay a proportion of your earnings when you retire and are called final earnings schemes.· These students may attend one or more classes at the University, paying an appropriate proportion of the full annual fee.· Income tax is a progressive tax because higher earners pay a higher proportion of their income in this tax than lower earners.· Others will have to pay a proportion of the tax, and in London and Aberdeen that proportion could well be high.· They also paid a substantial proportion of the increasingly heavy taxation the Elizabethan and Stuart campaigns on the Continent demanded.· You would be paid a proportion of the amount stated in the Benefit Table.
· The poorest Third World countries spend the largest proportions of their incomes on weapons.· You have to spend some proportion of the fee there on the rock.· These would spend a larger proportion of their incomes and so net savings would be reduced.· Poorer households are known to spend a larger proportion of their income on essentials such as food and fuel for heating.· In cities, poor families spend a much larger proportion on energy-often as much as 12-15 percent of their income.· What do you spend the greatest proportion on?· Teacher-pupil interaction Teachers spent a very high proportion of their time in class interacting with pupils.
PHRASES FROM THE ENTRYPHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► of biblical proportions► on a heroic scale/of heroic proportions
- At their best, lawyers have a sense of proportion and a sense of humor.
- But it is real enough to demand a sense of proportion and perspective.
- But let us keep a sense of proportion.
- Buying an airline seemed foolhardy and unnecessarily ostentatious: it affronted his sense of proportion.
- My sense of proportion left me; my judgment took on the grotesque exaggerations of a cruel cartoon.
- The participants, taken together, represented the power establishment of southern California with an exquisite sense of proportion.
- What is probably important here is a sense of proportion, rather than oversimplified either/or decisions.
- You should, however, keep a sense of proportion.
- It may reduce the task to more manageable proportions.
- Athletes are a mirror of society, even if sometimes their images are blown out of proportion.
- Like the cabalistic use of hints and allusions, it achieves results seemingly out of proportion to the measures employed.
- Likewise, the scare associated with the nuclear accident at Three Mile Island was blown out of proportion.
- So far, the intensity of these controversies is all out of proportion to the seriousness of the suspected offenses.
- The paranoia's got out of proportion.
- The scare has been blown out of proportion, said John Marchello, professor of animal science at the University of Arizona.
- We mustn't get things out of proportion.
- With men it's totally out of proportion.
- My confidence was so low it was difficult to keep things in proportion -- the smallest problem seemed like a major tragedy.
- The Party's recent successes in the polls are encouraging but they need to be kept in proportion.
- In fact it was Jack's sense of humour that kept her feelings in proportion during the next few days.
- In our celebrity-obsessed society, it is nice to see some one keeping things in proportion.
- Work was carried on around the lump in a fairly ordered pattern helping to keep everything in proportion.
- This case has been blown totally out of proportion because of the media attention.
- The issue was blown far out of proportion.
- a feat of mythic proportions
- By conflating childhood with mythic time - and does not the world possess mythic proportions when we are small?
- This is a feat of mythic proportions, comparable to extracting gold from sea water-or helium-3 from the lunar regolith.
WORD FAMILYadjectiveproportionalproportionateadverbproportionallyproportionatelynounproportionverbproportion
1part of something [countable usually singular] a part of a number or an amount, considered in relation to the wholeproportion of The proportion of women graduates has increased in recent years. Every parent is asked to contribute a proportion of the total cost.high/large/small etc proportion The decision affects a significant proportion of the population. Although the majority of offenders are men, a small proportion – about five percent – are women.► see thesaurus at amountGRAMMAR: Singular or plural verb?• In this meaning, proportion is usually followed by a singular verb: · A small proportion disagrees.• In British English, you can also use a plural verb: · A small proportion disagree.Grammar guide ‒ NOUNS2relationship [countable, uncountable] the relationship between two things in size, amount, importance etcthe proportion of something to something What’s the proportion of boys to girls in your class?in proportion to something The rewards you get in this job are in direct proportion to the effort you put in.3correct scale [uncountable] the correct or most suitable relationship between the size, shape, or position of the different parts of something: Builders must learn about scale and proportion.in proportion Reduce the drawing so that all the elements stay in proportion.in proportion to something Her feet are small in proportion to her height.out of proportion with something The porch is out of proportion with (=too big or too small when compared with) the rest of the house.4proportions [plural] a)the size or importance of something: Try to reduce your tasks to more manageable proportions.of immense/huge/massive etc proportions an ecological tragedy of enormous proportionsof epic/heroic/mythic proportions For most of us, Scott was a hero of mythic proportions.crisis/epidemic proportions The flu outbreak has reached epidemic proportions. b)the relative sizes of the different parts of a building, object etc: a building of classic proportions the elegant proportions of the living room5out of (all) proportion too big, great, or strong in relation to somethingproportion to/with The fear of violent crime has now risen out of all proportion to the actual risk.get/blow something out of proportion (=treat something as more serious than it really is) Aren’t you getting things rather out of proportion? The whole issue has been blown out of all proportion.6keep something in proportion to react to a situation sensibly, and not think that it is worse or more serious than it really is: Let’s keep things in proportion.7sense of proportion the ability to judge what is most important in a situationhave/keep/lose a sense of proportion You can protest by all means, but keep a sense of proportion.8mathematics [uncountable] technical equality in the mathematical relationship between two sets of numbers, as in the statement ‘8 is to 6 as 32 is to 24’COLLOCATIONS– Meaning 4ADJECTIVES/NOUN + proportionsenormous/massive/gigantic etc proportions· The company is heading towards a disaster of enormous proportions.epidemic proportions (=very great size, especially in a particular place)· Shoplifting has reached epidemic proportions.epic proportions (=very great size or importance)· An argument of epic proportions had ensued.mythic proportions (=a size or importance that seems almost unreal)· Achieving this was a feat of mythic proportions.historic proportions (=a size or importance that only rarely happens)· We were trapped for three days by a blizzard of historic proportions.crisis proportions (=a size that causes very serious problems)· The water shortage was reaching crisis proportions.manageable proportions (=a size that is easy to deal with)· First, narrow the choice down to more manageable proportions.verbsreach epidemic etc proportions· Alcohol abuse has reached epidemic proportions in this country.grow to enormous etc proportions· The fish grows to gigantic proportions.assume epidemic etc proportions formal (=become or seem very great)· Unless you deal with it quickly, the damage may assume serious proportions.reduce something to manageable etc proportions· The disease had been reduced to negligible proportions by vaccination.proportion1 nounproportion2 verb
proportionproportion2 verb [transitive] formal VERB TABLE
proportion
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | proportion |
| he, she, it | proportions | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | proportioned |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have proportioned |
| he, she, it | has proportioned | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had proportioned |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will proportion |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have proportioned |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am proportioning |
| he, she, it | is proportioning | |
| you, we, they | are proportioning | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was proportioning |
| you, we, they | were proportioning | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been proportioning |
| he, she, it | has been proportioning | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been proportioning |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be proportioning |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been proportioning |
EXAMPLES FROM THE CORPUS
- All storing is performed in the base port once a week with most meats being proportioned.
- Both are moved along at the same speed and in the same direction by the proportioning pump.
- It provides that such damages can be awarded as are proportioned to the injury resulting from the death to the dependants respectively.
- So long as he was solvent in law, he could not proportion his payments to creditors according to their respective debts.
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES The problem is beginning to assume massive proportions. He had produced a meal of epic proportions. Violent crime is reaching epidemic proportions in some cities. Clearly, the amount of money people save increases in inverse proportion to the amount they spend. When he was writing, he lost all sense of time. Part-time students make up a sizeable proportion of the college population. A much smaller proportion of women are employed in senior positions.COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB
The problem is beginning to assume massive proportions. He had produced a meal of epic proportions. Violent crime is reaching epidemic proportions in some cities. (=a very large part of a number) A high proportion of women with children under five work full-time.
A high proportion of women with children under five work full-time. Clearly, the amount of money people save increases in inverse proportion to the amount they spend. When he was writing, he lost all sense of time. (=the ability to judge how important or unimportant something is)· It’s important to keep a sense of proportion.
Part-time students make up a sizeable proportion of the college population. A much smaller proportion of women are employed in senior positions.· She had perfectly proportioned features and perfectly proportioned hands and feet and small even teeth that flashed as she smiled.· He was a tiny man, my size standing on a log, perfectly proportioned, except for one thing.· They were so world-weary, scornful of everything that wasn't perfectly proportioned or that they hadn't thought of first.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES► of biblical proportions► on a heroic scale/of heroic proportions
- This case has been blown totally out of proportion because of the media attention.
- The issue was blown far out of proportion.
- a feat of mythic proportions
- By conflating childhood with mythic time - and does not the world possess mythic proportions when we are small?
- This is a feat of mythic proportions, comparable to extracting gold from sea water-or helium-3 from the lunar regolith.
WORD FAMILYadjectiveproportionalproportionateadverbproportionallyproportionatelynounproportionverbproportion
to put something in a particular relationship with something else according to their relative size, amount, position etcbe proportioned to something The amount of damages awarded are proportioned to the degree of injury caused.GRAMMAR Proportion is usually passive.