rate
/reɪt/ noun [C]Definition
HOW MANY › how often something happens, or how many people something happens to: the birth rate the rate of unemployment
MONEY › a fixed amount of money given for something: the interest/exchange rate rates of pay
SPEED › the speed at which something happens: the rate of progress
at this rate › used before saying what will happen if a situation continues in the same way: At this rate we're not going to be there till midnight.
at any rate › used before saying one fact that is certain in a situation that you are generally not certain about: Well, at any rate we need her to be there.
first-/second-/third-rate › very good, bad, or very bad: a first-rate hotel → See also birth rate → See also exchange rate
(Definition of rate noun from the Cambridge Learner's Dictionary
© Cambridge University Press)
Browse the Dictionary
Browse the Thesaurus
More Results for “rate”
Word of the Day
Blog
Read our blog about how the English language behaves.
New Words
Find words and meanings that have just started to be used in English, and let us know what you think of them.
