ratio
Americannoun
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the relation between two similar magnitudes with respect to the number of times the first contains the second.
the ratio of 5 to 2, written 5:2 or 5/2.
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proportional relation; rate.
the ratio between acceptances and rejections.
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Finance. the relative value of gold and silver in a bimetallic currency system.
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Sometimes the ratio (on Twitter) the proportion of replies to a tweet compared to the combined number of retweets and likes, where a high ratio usually indicates a barrage of negative replies: LOL, then I added the reply, “Don't mind me, I'm just here for the ratio.”
How is the Twitter ratio any different from other kinds of outraged cybermobs?
LOL, then I added the reply, “Don't mind me, I'm just here for the ratio.”
verb (used with object)
noun
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a measure of the relative size of two classes expressible as a proportion
the ratio of boys to girls is 2 to 1
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maths a quotient of two numbers or quantities See also proportion
Usage
What else does ratio mean? On the social media platform Twitter, a ratio, or getting ratioed, is when replies to a tweet vastly outnumber likes or retweets. This means people are objecting to the tweet and considering its content bad.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of ratio
First recorded in 1630–40; from Latin ratiō “reckoning, account, calculation,” equivalent to rat-, past participle of rērī “to believe, think, imagine” + -iō, noun suffix from verb stems; see -tion
Explanation
A ratio is the relationship in quantity or degree between two things: “The ratio of men to women on the construction site was ten to one.” This means there were ten men present and one woman. Use the word ratio when you want to make a comparison between two things. A ratio basically expresses a proportion. Often used in mathematics, the word ratio has many real world uses as well. This word is useful for everything from making salad dressing (an oil-to-vinegar ratio of three to one) to selecting a school for a child (consider the student-to-teacher ratio when making your decision).
Vocabulary lists containing ratio
Pi Day Vocabulary
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Word Generation Science - Measurement
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Conservation of Energy and Energy Transfer - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Rising rates and this depressed investor sentiment have compressed the price-to-book ratio to 1.7 times.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
Chelsea and Villa, however, are among those that need to trade most effectively in order to comply with Uefa's squad cost ratio regulations and their 2025 settlement agreements.
From BBC ● Jul. 22, 2026
The brokerage likes the bank’s strong fee-income growth and commitment to shareholder returns with high payout ratio.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 22, 2026
Measuring 4.5 millimetres thick when unfolded, it features a 7.6-inch, 4:3 aspect ratio screen optimised for video viewing.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
U-235, however, was present only in the tiny ratio of 1 atom in 139, or about 0.7 percent.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Real innovation takes years and money, though, and most of these companies carry heavy debt while their payout ratios sit at unsustainably high levels, Howard notes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
Lime is not widely covered — only one analyst polled by FactSet covers the stock, so a typical comparison of forward price/earnings ratios doesn’t apply.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 15, 2026
Another filtering step removed signals with signal to noise ratios below 10 or above 100.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 14, 2026
Actually, nobody on Wall Street has a good definition of risk, which is why they hide behind Greek letters and jargon: Sharp ratios, Sortino ratios, Treynor ratios and so on.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
They ask about the percentages and ratios of my blood.
From "I Can Make This Promise" by Christine Day
They also see in Ellis a persona who can laugh off getting ratioed amid a watch-your-step social media culture.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 7, 2021
“I just figured because a lot of them were heavily ratioed, and had over 1,000 replies, that too many replies means it shuts down,” Graziano told Salon.
From Salon ● Sep. 19, 2019
The news that McCabe found a new gig was broken by CNN’s in-house media reporter Oliver Darcy, and his tweet was quickly met with criticism and swiftly ratioed.
From Fox News ● Aug. 23, 2019
Unfortunately for Schultz, people have been interested primarily in roasting him — and as HuffPo’s Ashley Feinberg noted, he may be the first Twitter user to be ratioed in every single one of his tweets.
From The Verge ● Jan. 30, 2019
What they are doing is getting themselves retweeted and liked, and if they are unlucky they are getting ratioed.
From Slate ● Sep. 5, 2018
Candy preference ratioing gets fierce during Spooky Season.
From Salon ● Oct. 29, 2022
Never has so much ratioing left the internet all at once.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 22, 2017
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.