- each of three equal parts of something
- He divided the money into thirds.
- third of something Over a third of sales were made over the internet.
- Two thirds of the population live in the poorer south.
Language Bank proportionproportionDescribing fractions and proportions- According to this pie chart, a third of students’ leisure time is spent watching TV.
- One in five hours is/are spent socializing.
- Socializing accounts for/makes up/comprises about 20 per cent of leisure time.
- Students spend twice as much time playing computer games as doing sport.
- Three times as many hours are spent playing computer games as reading.
- The figure for playing computer games is three times higher than the figure for reading.
- The largest proportion of time is spent playing computer games.
Extra Examples- Most of the pupils' marks were in the upper third of the range.
- The discount is a third to a half of the full price.
- the last third of the novel
Oxford Collocations Dictionaryadjective- first
- middle
- final
- …
- divide something into
- third of
- about a third
- almost a third
- at least a third
- …
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- third (in something) the lowest standard of degree given by a British university compare first, second1Topics Educationc2
Word OriginOld English thridda, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch derde and German dritte, also to three. The spelling thrid was dominant until the 16th cent. (but thirdda is recorded in Northumbrian dialect as early as the 10th cent.).
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third