fractions

1. 1
   noun

   Plural of fraction.

   The teacher asked the class to simplify several fractions before the quiz.

   Only small fractions of the original forest remain after decades of logging.

   Note

   One plural serves several trades. In arithmetic, fractions are ratios with a numerator over a denominator. In the chemistry lab, they are the components a mixture yields under fractionation. In everyday speech, they are pieces of a whole. The same spelling also serves the verb's present tense, so let the grammar decide: several fractions is a noun, while she fractions the sample is a verb.

2. 2
   verb

   Third-person singular simple present of fraction.

   The tall column fractions the crude oil by boiling point, drawing off gasoline near the top.

   The centrifuge fractions each blood sample into plasma and cells.

   Note

   The verb behind this form is transitive, so it nearly always has an object to break apart: the software fractions an image, a cutter fractions a stone. In laboratory use it does the work of fractionates, separating a mixture into the components that the plural noun names. Fractionates is the more technical choice, and fractions is the plainer one.

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