- 1a small part or amount of something Only a small fraction of a bank's total deposits will be withdrawn at any one time. She hesitated for the merest fraction of a second. He raised his voice a fraction If fraction is used with a plural noun, the verb is usually plural:Only a fraction of cars in the U.S. use leaded gasoline.If it is used with a singular noun that represents a group of people, the verb is usually singular:A tiny fraction of the population never votes.
Definitions on the go
Look up any word in the dictionary offline, anytime, anywhere with the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary app.
- 2a division of a number, for example ⅝ see common fraction synonym rational number compare integer Language Bankproportiondescribing fractions and proportions
- According to this pie chart, a third of students' leisure time is spent watching TV.
- One in five hours is spent socializing.
- Socializing accounts for/makes up/comprises about 20% of leisure time.
- Students spend twice as much time playing computer games as playing sports.
- 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.
Check pronunciation: fraction