{
    "term": "proportion",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "academic": true,
    "ox5000": true,
    "cefr": "b2",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "a part or share of a whole",
            "labels": "British English",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "Water covers a large proportion of the earth's surface."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Loam is a soil with roughly equal proportions of clay, sand and silt."
                },
                {
                    "text": "A **significant proportion** of the books have been translated from other languages."
                },
                {
                    "text": "A higher proportion of Americans go on to higher education than is the case in Britain."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The chart shows government spending expressed as a proportion of national income."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The unskilled section of the working class was diminishing as a proportion of the workforce."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["appreciable", "considerable", "good"],
                "verb + proportion": ["calculate", "estimate", "express something as"],
                "proportion + verb": ["grow", "increase", "rise"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "the relationship of one thing to another in size, amount, etc.",
            "sensetop": "proportion of something to somethingin the proportion…in proportion to something",
            "cefr": "b2",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The proportion of men to women in the college has changed dramatically over the years.",
                    "contextForm": "proportion of something to something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The basic ingredients are limestone and clay in the proportion 2:1.",
                    "contextForm": "in the proportion…"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The room is very long in proportion to *(= relative to)* its width.",
                    "contextForm": "in proportion to something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The cost of insurance increases in proportion to the performance of the car."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The human population in the region is expanding in inverse proportion to the wildlife."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["correct", "direct", "inverse"],
                "verb + proportion": ["keep something in"],
                "preposition": [
                    "in proportion (to)",
                    "out of proportion (to)",
                    "proportion of something to something"
                ],
                "phrases": [
                    "be blown, exaggerated, etc. out of all proportion",
                    "be blown, exaggerated, etc. out of proportion",
                    "a sense of proportion"
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "the correct relationship in size, degree, importance, etc. between one thing and another or between the parts of a whole",
            "sensetop": "in proportion (to something)out of proportion (with something)",
            "labels": "(figurative)",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "You haven't drawn the figures in the foreground in proportion.",
                    "contextForm": "in proportion (to something)"
                },
                {
                    "text": "The head is out of proportion with the body.",
                    "contextForm": "out of proportion (with something)"
                },
                {
                    "text": "an impressive building with fine proportions"
                },
                {
                    "text": "There is an entrance hall of perfect proportions, twice as long as it is wide."
                },
                {
                    "text": "Always try to keep a **sense of proportion** *(= of the relative importance of different things)*."
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["correct", "direct", "inverse"],
                "verb + proportion": ["keep something in"],
                "preposition": [
                    "in proportion (to)",
                    "out of proportion (to)",
                    "proportion of something to something"
                ],
                "phrases": [
                    "be blown, exaggerated, etc. out of all proportion",
                    "be blown, exaggerated, etc. out of proportion",
                    "a sense of proportion"
                ]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 4,
            "definition": "the measurements of something; its size and shape",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "This method divides the task into more manageable proportions."
                },
                {
                    "text": "a food shortage that could soon **reach crisis proportions**"
                },
                {
                    "text": "a room of fairly generous proportions"
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["biblical", "enormous", "epic"],
                "verb + proportions": ["reach"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 5,
            "definition": "the equal relationship between two pairs of numbers, as in the statement ‘4 is to 8 as 6 is to 12’",
            "examples": []
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "to react to something in a sensible way and not think it is worse or more serious than it really is",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The problem of hooliganism should be kept in proportion. Only a small number of young people act in this way."
                }
            ]
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "larger, more serious, etc. in relation to something than is necessary or appropriate",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "They earn salaries out of all proportion to their ability."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The media have blown the incident up out of all proportion."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The costs of the plan are out of proportion to the budget available."
                },
                {
                    "text": "The problem has been exaggerated out of all proportion."
                }
            ]
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/prəˈpɔːʃn/",
                "audio": "pr/proportion/proportion__gb_2.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/prəˈpɔːrʃn/",
                "audio": "pr/proportion/proportion__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "late Middle English: from Old French, from Latin proportio(n-), from pro portione ‘in respect of (its or a person's) share’."
}