Percentage point--missed word in dictionaries

[Thomas Paikeday]

"... can OFTEN be deduced from their components ..."? I would say
sometimes. So the question remains, which compounds are self-explanatory
and which need entry in dictionaries.
T. M. PAIKEDAY

Ittaob at AOL.COM wrote:
>
> I've observed that dictionaries often do a poor job in defining phrases, as
> opposed to individual words. That may be because there are so many phrases,
> the meanings of which can often be deduced from their components. For
> example, in AHD you can look up percentage, and you can look up point (one
> meaning -- "a single unit, as in counting, rating or measuring") -- and
> pretty much understand what a percentage point is.
>
> Steve