per cent adverbial & noun phr. [pǝ 'sɛnt] Also *percent & with final point (see note below). M16.
[from PER + CENT noun¹.]
A. adverbial phr. With preceding numeral, expr. a proportion (of a part to the whole, of a change to the original, or of interest to principal): by the hundred; for, in, or to every hundred. Repr. % M16.
a hundred per cent, one hundred per cent: see HUNDRED noun 1.
Listener The French national product rose at a rate of no less than 8 per cent a year. Guardian The tampon market is worth about 14 millions a year. Tampax has 62 per cent.
■ P. Gay Electing the..spokesman remained the privilege of a mere 6 percent of adult males.
b. noun.
1. In pl. With preceding numeral: stocks or securities, esp. British Government stocks, paying the specified rate of interest. L18.
three per cents, four per cents, etc.

2. Percentage. M19.

3. One part in every hundred; one per cent. M20.
Daily Telegraph The retail price index has risen by only three-quarters of a per cent.

► With a final point taken as abbreviation of PER CENTUM.

[TahlilGaran] English Dictionary ▲

per cent
noun
VERB + PER CENT account for, amount to, be equal to, constitute, equal, represent Overseas earnings accounted for 9% of the total last year. | contain Roman coins containing about 25% zinc
reach, stand at Their share of the vote reached 6.5% in 1998.
(All the verbs in the following collocate groups may be followed by by, from or to plus per cent. Sometimes the word by is left out.), be/go/shoot up, expand, grow, improve, increase, jump, rise, soar Prices rose by 12% in 1998. Prices rose 12%.
be/go/come down, decline, decrease, depreciate, drop, fall, plummet, plunge, shrink Profitability is down from 16% to 12.2%.
boost sth, increase sth, raise sth hoping to boost sales by 10%.
cut sth, devalue sth, reduce sth, slash sth The currency was devalued 20% overnight.
PREP. by 10, 20, etc. ~ cutting carbon dioxide levels by 20% in 15 years
~ of sth In 40% of all cases, the parents had no idea of their child's problem.
PHRASES about/around/only/over/up to 10, 20, etc. per cent ~ Only 10% of the teenagers agreed with this statement. a process that can reduce the cost by up to 15%
a boost/an improvement/an increase/a jump/a rise of 10, 20, etc. per cent a jump of 8% in cases of the disease
a cut/decline/decrease/drop/fall/reduction of 10, 20, etc. per cent, fewer/less/more than 10, 20, etc. per cent Profits rose by more than 50% last year.
growth of 10, 20, etc. per cent, in the bottom/top 10, 20, etc. per cent His son was in the top 2% of the university's students.
10, 20, etc. per cent less/more New cars will use about 35% less fuel by the year 2001.
10, 20, etc. per cent of all/of a total The tribe's land now amounts to around 50% of the total land area.

NOTE financial indicators

~ be down/up    With the share price down at 234p, it might be time to start buying.    The CAC index was up 18.84 points. ~ reach sth, stand at sth    Consumer confidence reached a 30-year high.    Second quarter sales stood at 18 billion. ~ be/remain unchanged    The 100 Share Index remained unchanged at 5297. ~ gain (sth)    The share gained 19 cents to close at 4.38. ~ suffer (sth)    Profit margins suffered when the company lowered prices to remain competitive. ~ climb, edge up, go up, increase ( ~ increase in value for currencies), jump, rise, rocket, shoot up, skyrocket, soar (+ by, from, to or no preposition)    Earnings per share climbed from 3.5p to 5.1p.    The pound has increased in value relative to the euro.    Profits have shot up by a staggering 25%.    Oil prices have skyrocketed. ~ come/go down, crash, decline, decrease ( ~ decrease in value for currencies), dive, drop, fall, plummet, plunge, shrink, slip, slump (+ by, from, to or no preposition)    Banana exports crashed nearly 50%.    The pound fell to a 14-year low against the dollar.    Net income plummeted to USD 3.7 million.     ⇒ See also the note at CURRENCY

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲