Frequency: The word is one of the 3000 most common words in English.
1.
If you are talking about how great, important, or serious a difficulty or situation is, you can refer to the ~ of it.
The government itself has little information on the ~ of industrial pollution...
The full ~ of the losses was disclosed yesterday.
N-SING: with supp, usu the N of n
2.
The ~ of something is its length, area, or size.
Their commitment was only to maintain the ~ of forests, not their biodiversity.
N-SING: with supp, usu the N of n
3.
You use expressions such as to a large ~, to some ~, or to a certain ~ in order to indicate that something is partly true, but not entirely true.
It was and, to a large ~, still is a good show...
To some ~ this was the truth...
PHRASE: PHR with cl vagueness
4.
You use expressions such as to what ~, to that ~, or to the ~ that when you are discussing how true a statement is, or in what ways it is true.
It’s still not clear to what ~ this criticism is originating from within the ruling party...
To that ~ they helped bring about their own destruction...
PHRASE vagueness
5.
You use expressions such as to the ~ of, to the ~ that, or to such an ~ that in order to emphasize that a situation has reached a difficult, dangerous, or surprising stage.
He said he didn’t like the president, but not to the ~ of wanting to kill him...
PHRASE emphasis