percentage
/pəˈsɛntɪdʒ
/noun
1A rate, number, or amount in each hundred: the percentage of Caesareans at the hospital was three per cent higher than the national average [as modifier]: a large percentage increase...
- It would also help children with blood diseases such as leukaemia, and would hopefully increase the survival percentage rate.
- The rate reverts to an annualised percentage rate of 16.9 per cent after six months.
- He expects the bank to lower its main rate by half a percentage point to 2 percent next month.
1.1Any proportion or share in relation to a whole: only a tiny percentage of the day trippers are aware of the village’s gastronomic distinction...
- There is a big corporate market for the championships, but their percentage of the whole audience is quite tiny.
- I bet if a referendum were called for, the percentage of the whole population would be nearly the same as that in the survey.
- There may be a small percentage that comes back, but a station does not usually get back the whole percentage that was lost.
1.2An amount, such as an allowance or commission, that is a proportion of a larger sum of money: I hope to be on a percentage
1.3 [mass noun] informal Personal benefit or advantage: I don’t see the percentage in selling perfectly good furniture
Phrases
play the percentages (or the percentage game)