The lion's share means the biggest part of something: money, work, time or attention. Share here means the portion that goes to someone. People usually say it about things that are divided between people or between items of spending.
When would you say the lion's share?
Write a sentence — we'll check that the expression fits the situation and suggest what to fix.
The check is taking longer than usual. Your feedback will appear here automatically.
the lion's share of + noun; get/take the lion's share
- Rent takes the lion's share of my salary, so I rarely eat out.
- The lion's share of the work fell on Anna while her manager was on holiday.
- In our family, the youngest child always got the lion's share of attention.
What changed
First versionRent takes the lion's part of my salary.
RevisionRent takes the lion's share of my salary.
Part may look like a fine synonym, but the idiom only uses share, a word that itself means “the portion someone gets”. A native speaker won't recognise the lion's part as the idiom. Only that word was changed.
In an IELTS Writing Task 1 report with exact figures, the idiom sounds too conversational. Neutral alternatives are the majority of or the bulk of: The bulk of the budget is spent on healthcare. The opposite in meaning is a drop in the ocean, a tiny amount that makes no difference.
Your turn
Our marketing team spends ___ of the budget on online ads, almost 70%.
Show the answer
the lion's share — 70% of the budget is the biggest part, the lion's share. The idiom only uses share; the lion's part isn't how native speakers say it.
Write about what takes up most of your money or time. Say what it is and roughly what percentage.
My job takes the lion's share of my time, roughly 60% of my waking hours.
Learn to use new words without mistakes
Write phrases with the words you are learning. LetsWords shows mistakes in usage and grammar, suggests corrections and explains them, and review helps the words stick.