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proportion ADJECTIVES/NOUN + proportions enormous/massive/gigantic etc proportions • The company is heading towards a disaster of enormous proportions. epidemic proportions (= very great size, especially in a particular place ) • Shoplifting has reached epidemic proportions. epic proportions (= very great size or importance ) • An argument of epic proportions had ensued. mythic proportions (= a size or importance that seems almost unreal ) • Achieving this was a feat of mythic proportions. historic proportions (= a size or importance that only rarely happens ) • We were trapped for three days by a blizzard of historic proportions. crisis proportions (= a size that causes very serious problems ) • The water shortage was reaching crisis proportions. manageable proportions (= a size that is easy to deal with ) • First, narrow the choice down to more manageable proportions. verbs reach epidemic etc proportions • Alcohol abuse has reached epidemic proportions in this country. grow to enormous etc proportions • The fish grows to gigantic proportions. reduce something to manageable etc proportions • The disease had been reduced to negligible proportions by vaccination.
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noun part/share of a whole ADJ. appreciable, considerable, fair, good, great, high, huge, large, overwhelming, significant, sizeable, substantial | reasonable | low, small | minute, negligible, tiny | certain | equal The company employs men and women in roughly equal proportions. | equivalent, similar | different, differing, varying | fixed | exact | approximate | average | overall | growing, increasing, rising | declining, decreasing, diminishing VERB + PROPORTION express sth as The chart shows government spending expressed as a proportion 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 proportion of the workforce. PROPORTION + VERB grow, increase, rise | decline, decrease, fall relationship between the size/amount of two things ADJ. correct | direct | inverse The human population in the region is expanding in inverse proportion to the wildlife. | relative VERB + PROPORTION keep sth in Try to keep your view of the situation in proportion (= not think it is more serious than it is). PREP. in ~ (to) The cost of insurance increases in proportion to the performance of the car. | out of ~ (to) The costs of the plan are out of proportion to the budget available. | ~ of sth to sth The proportion of sand to cement used was three to one. PHRASES out of all proportion The problem has been exaggerated out of all proportion. | a sense of proportion Try to keep a sense of proportion (= of the relative importance of different things). proportions: size and shape of sth ADJ. enormous, epic, extraordinary, gargantuan, generous, gigantic, heroic, huge, immense, major, mammoth, massive, monumental, staggering | modest | manageable, unmanageable The computer brings the huge task of stock control down to more manageable proportions. | alarming | crisis, epidemic | classic, elegant, fine, noble, perfect There is an entrance hall of perfect proportions, twice as long as it is wide. | bodily VERB + PROPORTION reach The food shortage had reached crisis proportions.