noun
1 part/share of a whole
ADJECTIVE
▪ appreciable ( esp. BrE ), considerable , good , great , high , huge , large , overwhelming , significant , sizeable , substantial
▪
A significant ~ of the funding is likely to come from government.
▪ fair , reasonable ( esp. BrE )
▪ low , small , tiny
▪ certain
▪ equal
▪
The company employs men and women in roughly equal ~s.
▪ equivalent , similar
▪ different , differing , varying
▪ fixed
▪ exact
▪ approximate
▪ average
▪ overall
▪ growing , increasing , rising
▪ declining , decreasing , diminishing
VERB + PROPORTION
▪ calculate , estimate
▪ express sth as
▪
The chart shows government spending expressed as a ~ of national income.
▪ grow as , increase as , rise as
▪ decline as , decrease as , diminish as , fall as
▪
The unskilled section of the working class was diminishing as a ~ of the workforce.
PROPORTION + VERB
▪ grow , increase , rise
▪ decline , decrease , fall
2 relationship between the size/amount of two things
ADJECTIVE
▪ correct
▪ direct
▪ inverse
▪
The human population in the region is expanding in inverse ~ to the wildlife.
▪ relative
VERB + PROPORTION
▪ keep sth in
▪
Try to keep your view of the situation in ~ (= not think it is more serious than it is) .
PREPOSITION
▪ in ~ (to)
▪
The cost of insurance increases in ~ to the performance of the car.
▪ out of ~ (to)
▪
The costs of the plan are out of ~ to the budget available.
▪ ~ of sth to sth
▪
The ~ of sand to cement used was three to one.
PHRASES
▪ be blown, exaggerated, etc. out of all ~ ( esp. BrE ), be blown, exaggerated, etc. out of ~
▪
This issue was about to be blown out of ~.
▪
The problem has been exaggerated out of all ~.
▪ a sense of ~
▪
Try to keep a sense of ~ (= of the relative importance of different things) .
3 proportions size and shape of sth
ADJECTIVE
▪ biblical , enormous , epic , gargantuan , generous , gigantic , heroic , huge , immense , major , mammoth , massive , monumental , staggering
▪ modest
▪ manageable
▪
The computer brings the huge task of stock control down to more manageable ~s.
▪ alarming
▪ crisis , epidemic
▪ classic , perfect
▪
an entrance hall of perfect ~s
VERB + PROPORTIONS
▪ reach
▪
The food shortage had reached crisis ~s.