Definition of "rate" []

• A quantity measured with respect to another measured quantity: a rate of speed of 60 miles an hour. (noun)
• A measure of a part with respect to a whole; a proportion: the mortality rate; a tax rate. (noun)
• The cost per unit of a commodity or service: postal rates. (noun)
• A charge or payment calculated in relation to a particular sum or quantity: interest rates. (noun)
• Level of quality. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "The other data are input rate or “characteristic flow rate” q, the depth D and the permeability K of the drained layer."
• "The Labour-rate Act got rid of that evident hardship, and charged the landlord with half the rate for tenements or holdings over £4 a-year, and with the _whole rate_ for holdings under that annual rent."
• "Within certain limits, metals expand uniformly in direct proportion to the increase in temperature, but the rate of expansion varies with different metals; thus, under like conditions, tin expands nearly twice (1-3/5) as much as gold, but the _rate_ of expansion for gold is nearly twice (1-7/10) that of tin."