quan‧ti‧ty S3 W2 / kwɒntəti, kwɒntɪti $ kwɑn- / 名词 ( 复数形式 quantities )
1 [可数和不可数名词] an amount of something that can be counted or measured
quantity of
The police also found a quantity of ammunition in the flat.
Add 50 grams of butter, and the same quantity of sugar.
a large/small/vast etc quantity of something
He had consumed a large quantity of alcohol.
Huge quantities of oil were spilling into the sea.
in large/small/sufficient etc quantities
Buy vegetables in small quantities, for your immediate use.
Your work has improved in quantity and quality this term. ► Do not say ‘a big quantity’. Say a large quantity.
2 [不可数名词] the large amount of something :
The sheer quantity of text meant that people did not read the whole of their newspaper.
3 in quantity in large amounts :
It’s a lot cheaper if you buy it in quantity .
→ be an unknown quantity at unknown 1 ( 4 )
COLLOCATIONS
形容词
a large quantity A large quantity of clothing was stolen from the shop.
a great quantity (= more formal than ’large’ ) The Romans imported a great quantity of sculpture from Greece.
a vast/huge/enormous quantity Computers can handle vast quantities of data.
a considerable/substantial quantity (= a large or fairly large amount ) Dolphins need to eat considerable quantities of food.
a sufficient quantity (= enough ) How did they obtain sufficient quantities of food to survive?
a small quantity Remove a small quantity of butter from the fridge.
a tiny quantity (= very small ) This truly great wine is only made in tiny quantities.
a minute quantity (= extremely small ) The rock contains minute quantities of copper.
THESAURUS
amount how much of something there is : Try to reduce the amount of fat in your diet. | a tiny amount of poison
quantity a particular amount of food, liquid, or another substance that can be measured – used especially in written descriptions and instructions : Make sure that you add the right quantity of milk. | They buy the wood in large quantities.
volume the amount of something such as business activity or traffic, especially when this is large or increasing : The volume of traffic on our roads has risen sharply. | the huge volume of trade with China
level the exact amount of something at one time, which can go up or down at other times : They measured the level of alcohol in his blood. | There is a high level of unemployment.
proportion the amount of something, compared with the whole amount that exists : the proportion of road accidents caused by drunk drivers | A high proportion of the students were from poor families.
quota a maximum amount of something that can be produced, sold, brought into a country etc : import quotas on Japanese cars
yield / jild / the amount of something that is produced, especially crops : this year’s cotton yield