| 释义 |
percentage|pəˈsɛntɪdʒ|
[f. per cent phr. (n.) + -age.]
a. A rate or proportion per cent; a quantity or amount reckoned as so much in the hundred, i.e. as so many hundredth parts of another, esp. of the whole of which it is a part; hence loosely, a part or portion considered in its quantitative relation to the whole, a proportion (of something). Freq. equivalent to ‘per cent’ qualifying the n., as percentage error (= error per cent), percentage point (= point per cent), etc.
1786–9Bentham Princ. Internat. Law Wks. 1843 II. 548/2 The difference between the per centage gained in that trade and the per centage gained in the next most productive trade. 1809Malkin Gil Blas iv. ii. ⁋4 Middle men in the trade..pocket a tolerable per centage. 1812J. Smyth Pract. of Customs (1821) 326 A Per Centage Duty on the true Value is also payable. 1834Macaulay Pitt Ess. (1887) 316 It had been usual for foreign Princes..to give to the Paymaster of the Forces a small per-centage on the subsidies. 1842Parnell Chem. Anal. (1845) 484 Calculating the Atomic Constitution of a Body from its Per-centage Composition. 1860Tyndall Glac. ii. iii. 246 A certain per-centage of the heat will pass through the glass. 1886F. Harrison Choice Bks. i. 10 A serious per⁓centage of books are not worth reading at all. 1906Westm. Gaz. 25 Jan. 8/1 Both first- and third-class passengers showed a percentage increase. 1920H. Crane Let. 30 July (1965) 41 A drawing account at the bank..in addition to a good percentage commission on everything I sell. 1928Britain's Industr. Future (Liberal Industr. Inquiry) v. xxxi. 444 The choice in particular cases between block grants and percentage grants. 1941J. S. Huxley Uniqueness of Man v. 144 It warns us not to be too hasty in drawing conclusions as to intelligence from percentage brain-weight, or as to the efficiency of circulation from percentage heart-weight. 1948Mencken Amer. Lang. Suppl. II. 766 Percentage man. A news photographer who makes a large number of exposures, hoping that chance will give him a few good pictures. 1961C. C. T. Baker Dict. Math. 233 Percentage error = true error/actual error × 100. 1964Economist 18 Jan. 182/2 The common American practice of ‘percentage rents’—gearing rents and ground rents over the initial period to a percentage of turnover. 1969‘R. Crawford’ Cockleburr i. vii. 71 I'm a percentage man... He's paying me ten per cent to get him clear with the money. 1971Gloss. Electrotechnical, Power Terms (B.S.I.) i. iv. 7 Percentage error, the relative error multiplied by 100. 1971Times 3 Sept. 13/1 Yesterday's action by the Bank of England in cutting Bank rate by a full percentage point. 1972Fremdsprachen XVI. 61/2 Percentage point, full—ein ganzes Prozent. 1973Computers & Humanities VII. 134 Q measures the percentage improvement, in terms of the function F. 1974‘A. Garve’ File on Lester xxxvi. 129 The poll figures..were shattering—a big percentage lead for the Government. 1974News & Press (Darlington, S. Carolina) 25 Apr. 16/2 Primary metal industries showed the greatest percentage increase (267 percent) over 1967.
b. fig. Advantage, gain; probability of successful outcome (in a situation, course of action, etc.). colloq. (orig. U.S.).
1862B. Harte Notes ‘by Flood & Field’ in Golden Era 14 Sept. 5/3 What's the per centage—workin' on shares, eh? 1911Chicago Daily News 2 Mar. 6/6 Johnny Coulon is unable to see the percentage in taking on Frankie Conley for another pummelling in the adjacent future. 1925College Humor Aug. 117/2 No percentage in staying on in this house. Darn thing's too big. 1938D. Runyon Furthermore xiii. 255 There is no percentage in hanging around brokers [sc. people who are broke]. 1940Woman (U.S.) Sept. 69/1 Marge was courageous and a straight shooter but there was no more percentage in taking her out than one of the other guys. 1950R. Moore Candlemas Bay vi. 302, I don't see how you figure that what peas you can shell with one thumb makes any percentage to me. 1952B. Malamud Natural 90 He decided there might be some percentage to all these comparisons. 1952H. Waugh Last seen Wearing (1953) 71 Well, hell, she turned down my dates and..there's no percentage in that. 1960C. Hatton in Pick of Today's Short Stories XI. 151 Roxy..could be relied on to stir up trouble anywhere even if there was no percentage in it for Roxy. 1966J. Porter Sour Cream xii. 162 There was no percentage in hanging around the airport terminus. I had to get away. 1973E. McGirr Bardel's Murder i. 27 He plays better bridge than ninety-eight per cent of the population... He doesn't cheat: he doesn't have to because he's got the percentage. 1976A. Price War Game i. 123 There was no percentage in rushing him.
c. Slang phr. to play the percentages: to play safely or methodically with regard to the odds in favour of success.
1964A. Wykes Gambling i. 22 A considerable number of women gamblers take a strictly ‘professional’ approach. Ignoring ‘intuition’, they attack with expertise; if their game is horse racing, they are vastly knowledgeable about horses' and jockeys' past records. Others may ‘play the percentages’ in casinos. 1973Daily Pennsylvanian 9 Oct. 6 Houston knows the game and its angles thoroughly and plays the percentages to perfection. 1977Tennis World Sept. 17/3 To ‘out-steady’ someone is to play a superior defensive game, and ‘playing the percentages’ is the art of going for shots that are cheap and clean, rather than costly and glorious. Statistically it pays off better than ‘going for broke’—risking everything on breath⁓taking winners.
Hence perˈcentaged |-ɪdʒd| a., expressed or stated as a percentage.
1884New Eng. Jrnl. Educ. XIX. 376 To judge the teacher through his character and methods rather than by percentaged results. |