<B>percentage, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a rate or proportion of each hundred; part of each hundred. <BR> <I>Ex. What percentage of children were absent? The French were ... suffering a lower percentage of casualties than the British (H. G. Wells).</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a part or proportion. <BR> <I>Ex. A large percentage of schoolbooks now have pictures. Television attracts a large percentage of the people.</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>an allowance, commission, discount, rate of interest, or other share, figured by per cent. <DD><B> 4. </B>(Informal.) advantage or profit. </DL>
<A NAME="percentagewise">
<B>percentagewise, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD> from the standpoint of percentage or percentages. <BR> <I>Ex. He estimated sales probably would be off a little more percentagewise for the six months as a whole than the 2 per cent drop suffered in the first quarter (Wall Street Journal).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="percentile">
<B>percentile, </B>noun, adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>any value in a series of points on a scale arrived at by dividing a group into a hundred equal parts in order of magnitude. <DD><B> 2. </B>one of these parts. <BR> <I>Ex. A student in the ninetieth percentile of his class on a particular test is in the top ten per cent.</I> <DD><I>adj. </I> of or having to do with percentiles; being or expressed as a percentage. <BR> <I>Ex. a percentile rating.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="percentum">
<B>per centum,<DL COMPACT><DD> 1. </B>by the hundred. <DD><B> 2. </B>for or in every hundred. <BR> <I>Ex. [The] senate bill ... would require all organizations that lend money or give credit to disclose to the customer his cost in interest per centum per annum (Maclean's).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="percept">
<B>percept, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>that which is perceived. <DD><B> 2. </B>the understanding that is the result of perceiving. </DL>
<A NAME="perceptibility">
<B>perceptibility, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the fact, quality, or state of being perceptible. </DL>
<A NAME="perceptible">
<B>perceptible, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> that can be perceived; observable; appreciable. <BR> <I>Ex. a perceptible improvement, a perceptible time. The other ship was barely perceptible in the fog.</I> (SYN) palpable, cognizable. noun <B>perceptibleness.</B> adv. <B>perceptibly.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="perception">
<B>perception, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>the act of perceiving. <BR> <I>Ex. His perception of the change came in a flash.</I> (SYN) insight, apprehension, discernment, comprehension. <DD><B> 2. </B>the power of perceiving. <BR> <I>Ex. a keen perception. Defect in manners is usually the defect of fine perceptions (Emerson).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>understanding that is the result of perceiving; percept. <BR> <I>Ex. He had a clear perception of what was wrong, and soon fixed it.</I> <DD><B> 4. </B>(Psychology.) the study of the complex process by which patterns of environmental energies become known as objects, events, people, and other aspects of the world. </DL>
<A NAME="perceptional">
<B>perceptional, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with perception. </DL>
<A NAME="perceptive">
<B>perceptive, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>having to do with perception. <DD><B> 2. </B>having the power of perceiving; intelligent. <BR> <I>Ex. a perceptive reader of poetry, a perceptive audience.</I> (SYN) discerning. adv. <B>perceptively.</B> noun <B>perceptiveness.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="perceptivity">
<B>perceptivity, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> perceptive quality; power of perception or thinking. </DL>
<A NAME="perceptual">
<B>perceptual, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> of or having to do with perception. adv. <B>perceptually.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="perceval">
<B>Perceval, </B>noun. =Percival.</DL>
<A NAME="perch">
<B>perch</B> (1), noun, verb.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>noun </I> <B>1. </B>a bar, branch, or anything else on which a bird can come to rest. <BR> <I>Ex. The bird kept away from the cat on a perch high in the tree.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>a rather high place or position. <BR> <I>Ex. From my perch on the crosstrees, I had nothing below me but the surface of the bay (Robert Louis Stevenson). (Figurative.) Not making his high place the lawless perch Of wing'd ambitions (Tennyson).</I> <DD><B> 3. </B>a measure of length equal to 5 1/2 yards or 5.0292 meters; rod. (Abbr:) p. <DD><B> 4. </B>a measure of area equal to 30 1/4 square yards or 25.293 square meters; square rod. <DD><B> 5. </B>a measure of volume in masonry; 24 3/4 cubic feet or .7004 cubic meter. <DD><B> 6. </B>a pole connecting the front and rear running parts in a wagon. <DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to alight and rest; sit. <BR> <I>Ex. A robin perched on our porch railing.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>to sit rather high. <BR> <I>Ex. He perched on a stool. (Figurative.) The little village perches high among the hills (H. G. Wells).</I> <DD><I>v.t. </I> to place high up. <BR> <I>Ex. Little birds perch themselves on the cows' backs to eat ticks and mites.</I> </DL>
<A NAME="perch">
<B>perch</B> (2), noun, pl. <B>perches</B> or (collectively) <B>perch.</B><DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a small, freshwater fish with a spiny fin, used for food, especially the yellow perch of North America. <DD><B> 2. </B>any one of various related freshwater or saltwater fishes, such as the white perch. </DL>
<A NAME="perchance">
<B>perchance, </B>adverb.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>perhaps; it may be; by chance. <BR> <I>Ex. To sleep: perchance to dream (Shakespeare). The climax would be interesting, if perchance uncomfortable (Winston Churchill).</I> (SYN) peradventure. <DD><B> 2. </B>by any chance; accidentally. <BR> <I>Ex. I counsel thee to stand aloof ... lest perchance He smite thee with his spear (William Cullen Bryant).</I> </DL>
<A NAME="percher">
<B>percher, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a person or thing that perches. <DD><B> 2. </B>a bird with feet adapted for perching. </DL>
<A NAME="percheron">
<B>Percheron, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> one of a breed of large and strong draft horses originally raised in Perche, France. </DL>
<A NAME="perchlorate">
<B>perchlorate, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a salt of perchloric acid. </DL>
<B>perchloric acid,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> a colorless, syrupy liquid used as an oxidizing agent, for plating metals, and in explosives. It is stable when diluted, but its concentrated form is highly explosive when in contact with oxidizable substances. </DL>
<A NAME="perchloride">
<B>perchloride, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a compound of chlorine with another element or radical, containing the maximum proportion of chlorine. </DL>
<A NAME="perchlorinate">
<B>perchlorinate, </B>transitive verb, <B>-ated,</B> <B>-ating.</B><DL COMPACT><DD> to combine or charge with the maximum proportion of chlorine. noun <B>perchlorination.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="perchloroethylene">
<B>perchloroethylene, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a colorless, nonflammable liquid, used as a dry-cleaning fluid, degreaser, and solvent, and medically as an anthelmintic agent; tetrachloroethylene. </DL>
<A NAME="perchromate">
<B>perchromate, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> a salt of perchromic acid. </DL>
<A NAME="perchromicacid">
<B>perchromic acid,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> an unstable, deep-blue crystalline acid. </DL>
<A NAME="percipience">
<B>percipience, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the act, condition, or power of perceiving; perception; discernment; cognizance. </DL>
<A NAME="percipiency">
<B>percipiency, </B>noun, pl. <B>-cies.</B> =percipience.</DL>
<A NAME="percipient">
<B>percipient, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>that perceives or is capable of perceiving; conscious. <DD><B> 2. </B>having keen perception; discerning. <DD><I>noun </I> a person or thing that perceives. adv. <B>percipiently.</B> </DL>
<A NAME="percival">
<B>Percival</B> or <B>Percivale, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> one of King Arthur's knights in the Arthurian legends, who sought and finally saw the Holy Grail. </DL>
<A NAME="percoid">
<B>percoid, </B>adjective, noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>adj. </I> <B>1. </B>resembling a perch. <DD><B> 2. </B>of or belonging to a large suborder of spiny-finned teleost fishes, including the freshwater perches, basses, and sunfishes, and certain saltwater fishes, such as the mackerels and tunas. <DD><I>noun </I> a percoid fish. </DL>
<A NAME="percoidean">
<B>percoidean, </B>adjective. =percoid.</DL>
<A NAME="percolate">
<B>percolate, </B>verb, <B>-lated,</B> <B>-lating,</B> noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><I>v.i. </I> <B>1. </B>to drip or drain through small holes or spaces. <BR> <I>Ex. Let the coffee percolate for seven minutes.</I> <DD><B> 2. </B>(Slang, Figurative.) to act efficiently. <DD><I>v.t. </I> <B>1. </B>to filter through; permeate. <BR> <I>Ex. Water percolates sand. (Figurative.) relief payments percolate the economy.</I> (SYN) filter, ooze, trickle. <DD><B> 2. </B>to cause (a liquid or particles) to pass through; filter; sift. <DD><B> 3. </B>to make (coffee) in a percolator. <DD><I>noun </I> a liquid that has been percolated. </DL>
<A NAME="percolation">
<B>percolation, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD> the act or process of percolating. </DL>
<A NAME="percolator">
<B>percolator, </B>noun.<DL COMPACT><DD><B> 1. </B>a kind of coffeepot in which boiling water drains over and over again through an upper section containing ground coffee. <DD><B> 2. </B>a person or thing that percolates. </DL>
<A NAME="percontra">
<B>per contra,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Latin.) on the contrary; on the other hand; on the other side. </DL>
<A NAME="percuriam">
<B>per curiam,</B><DL COMPACT><DD> (Law.) by the court (of an opinion or ruling given jointly by all the judges trying a case, with no signatory author). </DL>
<A NAME="percurrent">
<B>percurrent, </B>adjective.<DL COMPACT><DD> running through the entire length, as the midrib of a leaf. </DL>
<A NAME="percuss">
<B>percuss, </B>transitive verb, intransitive verb.<DL COMPACT><DD> to tap or strike gently with the finger or a small hammer, as in medical diagnosis or treatment. <BR> <I>Ex. He percusses rapidly over a nerve when the pain is dull or grinding, and percusses slowly when the pain is acute (T. L. Brunton).</I> </DL>
