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say it: rayt
rate is a noun and verb meaning "a magnitude or frequency relative to a time unit". It is pronounced /ˈɹeɪt/ — rayt. It carries 7 recorded senses.
a magnitude or frequency relative to a time unit
“they traveled at a rate of 55 miles per hour”
“the rate of change was faster than expected”
amount of a charge or payment relative to some basis
“a 10-minute phone call at that rate would cost $5”
the relative speed of progress or change
“he lived at a fast pace”
“he works at a great rate”
“the pace of events accelerated”
a quantity or amount or measure considered as a proportion of another quantity or amount or measure
“the literacy rate”
“the retention rate”
“the dropout rate”
assign a rank or rating to
“how would you rank these students?”
“The restaurant is rated highly in the food guide”
Forms marked · are formed by the regular rule rather than recorded in the source data. English keeps a few hundred irregulars and the rest follow the pattern, so the rule is right far more often than not — but it is a rule, and the mark says so.
Definitions, synonyms and semantic relations for rate come from Princeton University’s WordNet. The pronunciation comes from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Commonness is measured against a corpus of everyday English. Full sources and licences.